Death finds a light
by Pixie photos
Summary: Hershel's Farm the sanctuary for the wounded and the lost. Alice is the newbie to Hershel's farm, there's a spark of romance that blossoms in the darkest of times. Can the hard hitting Dixon brother fall for the funky seclusive Boston local?
1. Don't let the bastard take you down

Authors Note: I'm a 21 year old Aussie kid who adores the Walking Dead and the characters. I have no rights to these characters, Alice is my own creation however the setting and other characters are not my own. This is set somewhere just after the second episode of season 2 of the Walking Dead, I have no rights to the plot line and am not privey to any of the plot lines from here. This is my own work and the journey that these characters go on is my own creation. Most of all this is intended to be a bit of fun, something to keep me distracted and entertained. As always feedback is more than welcome and in fact encouraged. So read, enjoy and hopefully I'll talk to some of you as you read!

**CHAPTER ONE**

I was sitting on the back porch when Rick came up holding Carl, blood soaked and panting heavily that day. Things changed from there, everything changed, there wasn't really much that was the same about this world any more but I never would have thought that this group of ragtag survivors would ever be sitting in the living room across from me.

"His blood pressure is droppin' again," Hershel looked as exhausted and shattered as Rick did.

"Do it, just do it," Rick exclaimed brandishing his arm towards Hershel, his face was pale as anything and it was taking all of his focus to simply stand in front of the old man.

"You can't afford to be giving more blood Rick, you're already low as it is," Lori was holding onto his arm, fear and stress evident on her face. This whole ordeal looked like it had aged her ten years in ten minutes.

"Drink this," Maggie came out holding a glass of orange juice and forced Rick to drink more than half of the glass before taking him into the other room and sat down with him by Carl's bed.

"Otis knows his way better than anyone around that school, his nieces and nephew went there and he was looking after them for a long time, they should be in and out in no time," Patricia said trying to reassure Lori who was sitting on the couch across from her with her head in her hands staring at her feet. Being Otis' ex-girlfriend Patricia almost had to defend him, though given the recent circumstances I think the two of them will end up dropping the 'ex' pretty soon.

"Alice, sweetie, could you grab Lori a glass of water and an apple that we have in the fridge, please?" Maggie gave me a smile and nodded in the direction of the kitchen.

"Sure," I obediently got up and walked into the kitchen to grab the things she had requested. I hadn't been at Hershel's much longer than a few weeks. Things were strange for me before all of this happened. I only managed to stumble upon this place by chance, though I'm not so sure how I would have gone if I hadn't found Hershel and his family here, they saved my life and I was forever in debt to them for that. Though things had hit a bit of a stalemate since I had gotten here.

"Here you go," I handed Lori the glass of water which she took with a soft 'thank you' and took a sip. I left the apple on the table in front of her. Food was sort of a luxury to most people these days and I could see she didn't want to scoff it all at once.

"They'll be back with them supplies sooner than you know, it's gonna work out just fine," Patricia said as Lori took a bite out of the apple and chewed it slowly.

"I'm real sorry, can you excuse me for a moment," I spoke quietly enough as to not upset anyone and before I got an answer I stood up and headed outside to get a little bit of air.

"Where in good Lords name do you think you're going?" Billy, Hershel's son, was standing at the porch doorway.

"Gettin' some air," I replied without looking at him or even acknowledging he was there.

"Ya can't be out here with all these dang walkers around, c'mon girl, use your brain would ya?" Billy snapped.

"Back off hick, I'm fine, I'll be in soon," and without so much as another word he slammed the front door and went back inside.

"Grumpy son of a..." I never got to finish my insult because the dust kicking up from the front of the driveway caught my attention.

I pushed myself out of the little lounge setting and walked to the edge of the porch. The closer the vehicle got I realized that it was the RV that Rick had told us about, I watched it casually and before long it came to a skidding halt right in front of the house. I leaned against the wooden rail and folded my arms.

"Is this Hershel's farm?" an elderly man stepped out of the front cabin section of the RV and walked over to where I was standing,

"Who are you?" I asked, I knew it was rude to respond to a question with a question but still.

"I'm Dale, this is Glenn," he pointed towards the RV as a small Asian man jumped down and gave me a half hearted nod, "and our friend T-Dog is in the back, he's hurt his arm real bad and he's in desperate need of some antibiotics, he's got a nasty infection," I nodded and watched as Glenn helped the other man painfully from the back of the RV.

"Sure, y'all are friends of Rick and Lori's right? Come in, I'm sure Hershel has some pain killers and stuff inside," I said walking down the steps and over to where Dale was standing.

"Thank you," Glenn half mumbled as he shuffled passed helping T-Dog to walk.

Hershel re-patched T-Dogs bandage, gave him some pretty heavy pain killers and antibiotics and he was sleeping it off on the couch in the main room.

"Weren't there meant to be more of y'all?" I said after everyone had something to drink and were sitting down in the living room.

"There are more of us, normally," Lori said looking to Glenn expectantly.

"Carol's daughter Sophia was lost in the woods," Dale began softly from his position in the arm chair across from me.

"She got chased by a few walkers that passed us by on the highway, Rick went off after her and she ended up wandering off because she was scared or something. That's sort of how we got into this whole mess, Rick, Shane and Carl stayed back to look for her some more and that's when Carl got shot, you know the story from there," Glenn finished, looking over at Dale and then back at the empty glass in his hand.

"I'll get you some more water," Maggie said softly and without a moments' hesitation, gently took Glenn's glass from between his fingertips and headed out of the room. There was something about him, the way his eyes followed her right out of the room and didn't move from the doorway for a good few moments.

"How's Carl doing?" Dale asked after a pause.

"He's stable, for now," came Billy's response from the seat that was sitting at the edge of the doorway leading into Carl's makeshift surgery room.

"He's going to pull through though right?" Glenn asked; his face was full of fear and concern.

"Hershel is a wonderful doctor, he was the best in his field before this mess started," Maggie stated handing Glenn his now full cup back and smiled.

"Yeah, for a veterinarian," came Lori's defeated tone.

"He's a damned good doctor and you should be counting your blessings that your son is here with him and not out there dying in the back of that dang RV," Billy was sort of notorious for being overly protective of his father and his choices.

"Easy Bill," Patricia said holding her hand up to him slightly. He was about to say something more but caught the look in Maggie's eyes and thought better of it.

The rest of the evening was spent playing 'get to know you' with each other, there was a lot that seemed to come out over the course of a few hours, Glenn opened up some about what he used to do before the walkers took over and Dale was telling us about his wife and children back at home. Lori tended to say little and spent a lot of her time tending to both Rick and Carl. Rick had given a lot of blood and was in no fit state to even be talking, yet he was adamant that he would go and help Shane and Otis as soon as he could. Arguments flared up about the sanity of that idea and that was around about the time I decided to take my first watch outside. It was nothing to be freaked out about. Walkers hadn't really infected the farm, except for the odd one or two that had popped up when I first arrived a few weeks back. It was a pretty secluded area and as far as I could see there wasn't much in the way of civilization any closer than maybe five to ten miles away from the farm house.

"So," I heard the familiar creaking of the front door as Dale stepped out onto the porch and took a seat in the arm chair. I had sat myself up onto the railing and positioned myself with my back against one of the posts, my left leg sitting up on the handrail and my right leg dangling over the edge.

"So?" I said quietly giving him a sideways glance and adjusting the sniper rifle I held in my arm.

"You don't say much, I couldn't help but notice that you don't seem like you're from around these parts?" Dale had an interesting way of approaching things. He was softly spoken yet seemed like the kind of person that if he chastised you, you'd feel guilty for months on end. Much like my father had once been like.

"I'm not," I replied gently giving him a slight smile then going back to looking out over the paddocks.

"Where are ya from originally then?" he at least had the decency to wait a few moments before asking.

"I was born down here, moved to Boston when I was eighteen though," I responded searching the darkening yard before me for any signs of movement.

"You're telling me you came all the way out here from Boston?" the disbelief in his voice was enough to tell me what his facial expression would look like.

"Well why on earth would you come all the way down here to Atlanta?" I was subconsciously aware of him sliding forwards a little in the seat. I shifted a little, he made me uncomfortable. I didn't like people prying into my own life, if I wanted to talk I'd damn well talk.

"I don't mean to pry, I just find it admirable that you managed to make it all the way from Boston to Atlanta without so much as a scratch," his voice was low and full of something I could only describe as admiration.

"Look," I slid around so I was facing him and both of my legs were hanging just above the decking.

"I'm here 'cause my lil' brother went to school at the high school near here, he was sixteen years old, I had to come and find him. Don't you get me wrong here old man, I've been through my fair share of trials and the like, but it's what I had to do, this world ain't nothing like it once were, it ain't ever gonna be the same again and if there was some flicker of a chance that he was alive then I had to make sure he was," I gave him a small, sad smile then turned back around to look out over the paddocks again.

"Well, for all it's worth, I think it's an incredible feat for such a young girl to make it all the way from Boston to here and actually survive," he said after a long pause and with that he headed back inside. I looked over my shoulder slightly and relaxed into my little perch and went back to scanning the yard.

By the time change over came around I was so wired that I could barely even play with the idea of sleep. There were more people out there now lookin for some poor little girl lost in the woods, a young boy down stairs dying from a bullet wound and a group of stragglers that looked like they all needed a damn good feed and some solid sleep. I had suffered through my fair share of incidents over the course of my travels so I knew how much of a sanctuary Hershel's farm was. I holed up in the upstairs bedroom on the armchair next to the window for the remainder of the night. I couldn't help it but I spent the time staring out of the glass overlooking the open fields below. How the hell did the world get to this? How did it go from being so calm and full of seemingly menial problems to this? How the hell did I go from wanting to kill my family to trying to protect the very person that once took a knife to my arm and attempted to kill me?

How things change.

Sleep never came easy for me. I was always on edge for as long as I could remember. By the time the sun was up casting long golden yellow streams of light over the open fields I was already out of the front door and heading towards the woods. There was definitely more than enough food out there and we needed some sort of sustenance for the onslaught of people that had found their way into Hershel's home. I holstered my pistol into its case on my thigh, grabbed my crossbow and arrows and made my way quietly out down the stairs and across the wooden floorboards to the back door.

"Where you headed?" Hershel was standing on the back porch as I made my way silently out of the back door.

"We need to eat Hersh, Otis is gone and I'm not doin' much around here but gettin' in the way of everyone in there, I gotta do somethin' useful and right now I feel like slinging this here crossbow around is the only thing I got goin' for me," I turned on the last step and looked up at him, "please don't stop me," I said softly.

"Be careful," was all he said before turning back to look out over the fields he had so lovingly tended to once upon a time. I nodded slightly then began to trudge my way out through the open fields.

The grass was around my chest as I wandered towards the thickened line of trees. Maggie had asked me if I was afraid to be out there alone, my answer hadn't been quick but I had eventually told her that for the first two weeks I was perpetually scared, blind fear that almost paralyzed me in some cases. As time went on though, I adjusted to it all, I began to block out anything, killing became almost like a game to me, I stopped seeing them as people and started seeing them as animals, threats on me and mine. It wasn't something I was proud of but it was the only way I knew to survive. And let's face it, when hell opens up you got two choices, stand and fight till the bastard drags you under or lay down on your back and let him consume you whole. The bastard hadn't gotten me yet. I edged my way quietly through the shrubs and foliage, took out a few squirrels and a rabbit but that was about it. That's when I saw her. I was tracking, what I could only hope was, a decent sized buck when I saw the hint of flesh under some of the greenery next to me. I slid over the tree trunk I was hiding behind and moved the grass back.

"Oh shit," I was staring down at a pale little face, almost angelic. Her features were soft and her short dirty blonde hair was matted and tangled, dirt and blood smeared her forehead and her clothes were sullied beyond recognition. I bent forwards, set my crossbow down beside me and began checking her over. There was no visible bite marks or wounds, I rested my head to her chest, there was a feint heart beat that emerged after a moment. She was alive. But only just. This kid needed help and she needed it yesterday.

I was about to pick her up when I heard the rustle behind me. Without making too much of a scene I narrowed my eyebrows and reached for my crossbow, just as my hand hit the cold steel there was a searing pain that burst through the back of my skull and resonated right through to the inner part of my eye socket. I let out a groan and fell to the side.

"She ain't no damn walker!" was the last thing I heard as a pair of brown leather boots appeared in front of my eyes...

...and everything went black.


	2. The wounded and the lost

Authors note: none of the walking dead characters are my save for the character of Alice, she is my own personal creation, based slightly around myself (the family history aspect is NOT my own and I am not an American citizen) and other influential people that I have encountered. The plot line here does NOT follow the plot line of the Walking Dead Season 2 plot line, however is meant as an alternative story line, I have no access to plot lines or anything however if some spoilers correspond then that is oily coincidental and unintentional. If you have any comments or want to chat let me know, feedback is always appreciated and you can always follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos.

**CHAPTER TWO**

My head was swimming, by the time I had managed to open my eyes I was staring straight up at the dirty and quite bleak looking interior material of a car roof.

"Hey hey, she's up," I was vaguely aware of someone moving the hair away from my face lightly.

"We're almost there," I heard another female voice chime in, I tried to get some sort of bearing as to where I was. I let out a soft groan as I tried to sit up.

"Don't move," I felt a hand on my shoulder and immediately stopped any attempt at what I was doing, at least I was with living, breathing, walking human beings and not dying in a hole somewhere.

"Hang on, just a little further," the man in the front seat was turned almost all of the way around and looking into my eyes. I couldn't do anything more than just stare at him vacantly, my brain didn't seem to be registering anything, the only thing that seemed to stick with me was the fact that he had a crossbow sitting in his lap, and it was the exact same model my Dad had given to my little brother almost three years ago.

I closed my eyes and slipped off into a deep sleep.

. . .

When I woke up I was surrounded by a white sheet and staring up at the all-too-familiar ceiling of the bedroom on the top floor of Hershel's farm. My head was still sore but my eyesight seemed to be calming down somewhat and while it took me a while to focus, it was a lot easier than before. I took a few steadying breaths and tried to sit up.

"Ya gotta stop tryin to move," I felt a hand on my stomach gently holding me down onto the bed. I turned my head and saw the man with the crossbow from the car.

"What..." I tried to form some sort of coherent thought but everything felt muddled.

"Don't talk, ya found that little girl, Andrea thought you were a walker and clocked you one over the side of ya head, we stopped her before she lost it completely," his hand was still resting on my stomach lightly. There was something soothing and equally disconcerting about the action, such a simple thing and yet it made me feel like I was some fragile little girl that fainted in the park or something.

"Who are you?" I managed to get the words out slowly and almost inaudibly.

"I'm Daryl," he said simply. I forced my eyes to focus on the man by my bedside. He was covered in dirt, he had a light blue shirt that seemed to make his eyes go a deeper shade of ocean blue, I couldn't help but notice that he had pulled the sleeves off of the shirt exposing his incredibly toned biceps.

"I'm..."

"Alice, yeah, I know," he took his hand away from my stomach and rested it on the bed next to me. Part of me felt a little disappointed that his hand wasn't there any more, though I quickly passed that off as nothing more than a lack of contact with people for such a long time.

"How do you know that?" I asked, my voice didn't hurt so much anymore and I could feel my body begin to start registering my brain telling it to move.

"Rick told me who you are," he said simply his eyes never leaving mine.

"Right," I nodded a little then squirmed so I could sit up straight,

"Stop movin' would ya? Your man Doc down there told me that ya have to stay still for a while, let that head wound heal some before you try doin too much," his accent was riddled with the southern drawl that I had grown up with and loved so much.

"Why are ya here next to my bed?" I said cocking my head to the side slightly and looking at him closely.

"Because," he shifted uncomfortably in the armchair.

"Because what?" I pressed.

"It ain't nothing weird, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, seems like you're fine to me so there ain't no need to be getting all defensive and shit," he stood up abruptly and walked out of the room. I watched him leave and waited until I heard the click of the door behind him before clambering out of the bed and walking over to the window.

Looked like Billy had gotten the day shift this time around, he was an interesting one that man, he always seemed to be on edge about something, like there had been some sort of tremendous incident in his life that had made him so wary of other people. It was a sad state of affairs, people lose hope and faith in humanity so quickly, it made my stomach turn in a sense. I walked back over to the bed and fumbled through my backpack and pulled out my camera. When I had left Boston in such a rush I had shoved only the most vital things into my backpack, bottles of water, some clothes and personal beauty effects and headed on my way. The one thing that I never went anywhere without was my camera. Some years back I had travelled around Europe and because I had known I wasn't going to be near power points I had brought a solar powered camera to take with me and a whole tone of memory cards. That was the first thing I had packed when I headed out of Boston and worked my way back here.

I knelt down on the window seat and started taking a few photos out of the window. In a time like this, where death, destruction and fear ruled I thought it only fair to try and find some sort of happiness, some small speck of enjoyment and for me this was it. I zoomed in slightly on Billy roaming through the fields with his gun cocked at the ready. I was scanning over the scene before me when Daryl came into the viewfinder on my screen. I narrowed my eyes a little and followed him as he moved; there was something so different about him. Some sort of hunter, primal aspect to him, the way he moved was different, the way he took in all of his surroundings before taking another step forwards. I was watching him, captivated by his every motion, and almost like he knew just as I hit the shutter button he turned and looked straight up at the window, straight into the lens of the camera.

"What are you taking photos of?" I jumped and dropped the camera onto the seat at my knees and spun around.

"I didn't mean to scare you," the girl standing in my room had curly blonde hair, her crystal blue eyes looked exhausted and weary. Her clothes were sullied and seemed just slightly too big for her fragile frame.

"I was just," I slid down off of the window seat and walked over to her, "taking photos of the scenery," I held up the camera with a smile.

"Oh," she gave me a puzzled look then extended her hand, "I'm Andrea,"

"Nice to meet ya," I said shaking her hand politely' "I'm Alice,"

"I'm so sorry about your head," she let go of my hand and looked at her feet a little remorsefully.

"It's okay," my hand went up to the patch on the back of my head and I shrugged a little.

"No, it's not, I thought you were a walker and I had seen Sophia laying there before and I thought that you were trying to eat her or something," she looked up at me, a fear in her eyes that shook me to my very core.

"Seriously, it's okay, I understand, it was a mistake, it was a protection thing, I totally get that," I didn't normally do this whole comforting thing, it wasn't really a normal reaction for me.

"I'm so sorry, I'm just so sorry," before I had a chance to do anything she walked out of the room, tears prickling at the edge of her eyes. Who the hell were these people?

I changed into a pair of black jeans, a long white singlet and my brown shin high bike boots, tied my long matted black hair into a messy bun at the back of my head, being careful of the patch off to the side and made my way down the stairs to see if there was any more news about Carl, or that little girl for that matter.

"What're you doin walkin' around?" before I had even gotten to the bottom of the stairs Maggie was there scolding me from the landing.

"I'm fine Mag," I said quietly coming to stand in front of her on the landing.

"My Dad said ya have to sleep and built ya strength before ya start wandering around like this," she folded her arms across her chest and gave me a scowl.

"I'm fine Mag," I repeated with a shrug then slipped passed her, down the three remaining steps and walked into the living room. It was a simultaneous reaction as soon as I walked into the room, everyone's eyes turned to me, Patricia was sitting on the couch next to Andrea, Lori was in the chair right by the door that lead into Carls room, Rick was leaning on the table with a glass of orange juice in one hand, Dale was next to him making sure he was drinking and T-dog and Glenn were sitting on the other side of the table across from them.

"Did you find my baby girl?" I hadn't seen the woman sitting in the armchair in the corner of the room. I nodded slightly and looked at her. She looked just as gaunt and ragged as Lori had, her short cropped hair making her look older than she was.

"Oh Lord, thank you so much," she rushed over from the chair and wrapped her arms around me tightly. I stood there paralyzed, I managed to wrap my right arm around her and return the hug lightly. She felt so small and helpless.

"Thank you so so much, my little baby wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, thank you so much, I owe you everything, thank you," she said pulling back from me and taking her hand in mine.

"Give the girl some space Carol, c'mon," I heard the voice from behind me and turned to see Daryl leaning against the wall his crossbow hanging limply in one hand.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, thank you," she said again and then made her way back over to the armchair. I nodded a little at her and then looked sideways at Daryl.

He was the epitome of the stereotypical redneck boy; rugged, dirty, a typical hunter. His short cropped hair and stubble gave him even more of that bad boy look. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. There was something captivating about him, I couldn't work out what it was but there was this mystery to him, like he wanted the attention and the approval of others yet he was too much of a hard ass to actually admit to wanting that companionship. Whatever it was, he had my attention, his very presence next to me made the very hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, my whole body was aware of him and his every move. I had grown up around people like him my whole life, hell my Dad was exactly the same as him, but for some reason there was this unshakeable element to him that set him apart from all of the other rednecks that I had encountered.

"Where'd ya get the crossbow from?" he said quietly shifting his own crossbow from one hand to the other then leaning it against the wall.

"What?" I turned to face him.

"Ya crossbow that you were packing when we met ya, where'd ya get it?" he replied, his stare unwavering.

"My old man got it for me when I was fifteen," I replied.

"Tradition right?" he said simply with a nod.

"'Scuse me?" I was never too good at divulging information about my personal life to people, not even those friends I had had since I was a little girl.

"My old boy gave me and my brother crossbows when we were little, he said that if we could hold one, we could use one," he shrugged a little.

"Makes sense," I said with a nod.

"Ya know how to use that thing or is it just for show?" he had a slight smirk on his face.

"If I couldn't shoot the dang thing, I wouldn't be carrying it around," and with that I walked over to see how Carl was doing in the other room.

"What're you doing up?" Hershel put his stethoscope around his neck and pulled the sheet back over the pale little boy's chest.

"I'm fine Hersh, if I wasn't fine I wouldn't be up," I replied stuffing my hands into my pockets nervously.

"Let me check you, come here," he motioned with his hand for me to come and sit near him. I obediently walked over and knelt on the floor beside him. He carefully lifted the patch that was covering the back left side of my head and checked the wound then placed the patch back over and stuck it back down.

"It's looking okay, the stitches have held which is good," he said giving me a concerned look.

"I'm fine Hersh, seriously," I said reassuring him, "how's he doing?" I nodded towards the bed.

"He's getting weaker, blood pressure has stabilized but I don't know how long he can hold on," he wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead. This whole thing was really taking it out of everyone.

"How's the other little girl?" I asked.

"Sophia, she's fine, we've put her in Maggie's bed downstairs, she passed out from exhaustion, we've given her water and some food but it'll take her a while to come back to full strength, she was very lucky to be found when she was," the look in his eyes was telling me I should be proud for stumbling across her. I nodded slightly in response and sat there with Carl for a moment longer.

"He'll pull through," just at that moment the door opened and both Rick and Lori came into the room.

"I'll go," I said and without waiting for a response I slipped out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind me.

The day was spent doing a whole load of the normal stuff, some of the guys went out hunting, the ladies did washing and helped prepare the rabbits and squirrels I had shot earlier and the vegetables that were brought in from the paddocks. I found myself back out in the woods lying in the grass listening to my own heart beat steadily against the warm ground. I had been tracking a few rabbits for a little while and found that this was where they had set up their own little sanctuary below ground. I waited patiently watching the open space in front of me calmly. I heard a rustle behind me and without moving let my eyes fall to the space just next to me, there were so many of us out here hunting that it was no surprise if someone had followed me to the same spot. I paid no attention to it and simply went back to watching the space in front of me. Everything fell back into silence; all I could hear was my own breath and heartbeat when another rustle came from behind me.

"Good Lord..." I turned around on my elbow to give whoever it was behind me a mouthful and found myself face to face with a decaying, blood soaked face. It was missing an eye and part of his scalp had been peeled back much like that of a potato skin exposing the near black red bubbling wound underneath. I could smell the rotting flesh between his teeth, even though part of his jaw was dislocated and broken off it still had the threat of being eaten alive, he smelled much like I would imagine a morgue would.

"Oh fuck!" I let out a slight scream just as he growled a guttural reverberating noise that would forever be embedded into my mind. I scuttled backwards on my elbows into the open space, kicking madly at the walker following me.

"HELP!" I screamed, stupid girl! I glanced back to the spot where I was before and saw my crossbow laying on the ground. Mother F! The walker was still advancing quicker than I could move. I gave him another swift kick to the knee making him buckle and fall forwards. I rolled onto my chest and pushed myself up until I was standing. I grabbed the machete out of its sheath on my leg and braced myself for the rotting corpses' next move. He grappled with the floor a moment before finding his footing and fumbling forwards to where I was standing poised for attack.

"Come on," I muttered under my breath, my weight shifted onto my right leg and then back to my left. Just as his yellowing, flesh stained fingers were about to reach my neck there was a splatter of blood and the already dead body fell to the floor completely limp. I blinked a few times to clear my vision then stood up right and looked down at the mess on the ground before me.

"So, when do you start usin' your shit like you said you can?" I looked up to see Daryl walking towards me, his crossbow resting on his shoulder and mine in his extended hand.

"Well, if ya had given me the chance I could've shown you how I use this," I waved the machete back and forth a little then shoved it back into its sheath and grabbed my crossbow from his outstretched hand. I did I double take of how I had sounded then taking a deep breath looked him straight in the eye.

"Thank you, for saving my ass out here," I said softly. He gave me a slight smirk and nodded in recognition. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a rustle of movement in the shrubs behind him. The ears emerged first followed by the hesitant little paws.

"How's this for 'usin' my shit'?" I said quietly to him then without so much as a flicker of hesitation I drew my crossbow up took aim and fired. He turned just as the arrow embedded its way through the little creatures head and fell lifeless to the ground where it stood. He turned back to look at me.

"Well, looks like the wounded and the lost have found somethin' in common," he said walking over to the squirrel on the ground, picking it up by its tail and brandishing it towards me as though it was some sort of prized medal. I couldn't help the beaming smile that crossed my face as I gave him a playful shrug and rested my weapon against my shoulder.


	3. Skinning Squirrels

Authors note: none of the walking dead characters are my save for the character of Alice, she is my own personal creation, based slightly around myself (the family history aspect is NOT my own and I am not an American citizen) and other influential people that I have encountered. The plot line here does NOT follow the plot line of the Walking Dead Season 2 plot line, however is meant as an alternative story line, I have no access to plot lines or anything however if some spoilers correspond then that is oily coincidental and unintentional. If you have any comments or want to chat let me know, feedback is always appreciated and you can always follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos.

**CHAPTER THREE**

"So, you're actually not a half bad shot little lady," Daryl said adjusting his crossbow and the catch we had both made on his shoulder as we walked easily back to the farm house.

"My Daddy raised me right," I said with a laugh falling into step right next to him.

"You can say that again," he said with a sideways glance giving me a little smile. I couldn't help it, my face went bright red and I could feel the heat flooding into my cheeks. I focused on the floor and kept walking with my head down. There wasn't much else to talk about as we made our way back to the house, I fell out of step with him a few times and walked behind him, just because I could and mostly because I wanted to have a little bit of a perv on him, I wasn't exactly above doing that, and besides he was a damn fine man. As we were walking up to the house though I noticed that he was doing the same thing, falling back a few steps then keeping pace with me again. I couldn't help but smirk to myself as we made our way back across the paddocks.

I wouldn't say I was exactly a super fit kind of person, I wasn't exactly average either. Growing up where I did as a kid you sort of had to get tough and get street wise or die trying. That mostly came from the fact that I had an interesting home life but that was another story all together. Boston was much the same, I took up kickboxing and self deference classes so that I was safe but it was a way to keep fit for me as well. I grew up learning how to hunt and take care of myself, I rode motorbikes on the farm we owned and when I got into the big cities I wouldn't be anywhere without my bike. I'm about 5'6 with long wavy black hair and dark brown eyes, I've been told a few times that if you get me in the wrong mood my eyes go almost pitch black and on the opposite side of things though my best friend used to tell me that my eyes go golden and almost yellow when I'm happy. I guess they're the little things that matter really, even before all of this went down though, I always had faith and that's something that won't ever go away. I believe wholeheartedly in humanity, I guess once everything fell apart with this whole zombie thing there was a whole lot to lead people to lose faith.

We finally made it back up to the house and stopped short in the bottom end of the paddock, skinning the animals wasn't exactly a pleasant task and I had been told off for doing it in the kitchen by Maggie on a number of occasions, according to her the further away from the house I was the better.

"Why can't we just do all this in the kitchen?" Daryl asked throwing the line of animals on the ground as I perched myself on a bale of hay and grabbed one of the squirrels off of the belt and unsheathed my knife.

"Mags thinks it's unclean and apparently contaminates the rest of the kitchen," I said with a slight shrug. He turned to face me just as a slid the knife into the still warm animal.

"Woah, woah, ya sure ya know what ya doing there?" Daryl gave me a puzzled look.

"Honey, I been skinnin' animals almost as long as I been walkin' and talkin', ain't nothin' new to me," I said with a slight smile as I went back to the task in front of me.

"Well dang," I heard him whisper under his breath as he plonked himself down next to me and grabbed one of the other animals and begin skinning it. The conversation ended there, we both got absorbed into doing our own things and by the time we had skinned all of the animals it was beginning to get dark.

"We best get movin' back to the house, still gotta cook up these bad boys," I said wiping my knife on the edge of the hay bale then returning it to its holder and standing up, the skinned animals in one hand and my crossbow in the other.

"Why, ya scared huh?" he said with a smirk on his face.

"Of what? Walkers? Don't be crazy," I said with a laugh then turned to walk up to the house. Just as I was heading towards the house I felt something warm and slimy slam into my shoulder. Without a seconds hesitation I dropped the animals I was holding and spun around my crossbow up and ready to fire.

"Not scared huh?" Daryl laughed lightly holding up the skin from by my foot and waving it in my face.

"Real funny," I growled lowering my weapon, turning on my heel then grabbing the catch from off the ground headed back towards the house. I heard Daryl laughing softly as he came to walk next to me.

"It weren't that funny ya know," I said giving him a nudge and a sideways glance.

"Shoulda seen ya face, ya damn well nearly screamed," he said with a broad shit-eating grin.

"I did not! Ya over exaggeratin'!" I grumbled as we trudged back through the knee high grass towards the homestead.

"Why the hell were y'all out here for that long?" Andrea was standing on the porch with her arms folded across her chest, the look in her eye both menacing and filled with aggression.

"We were huntin'," I said holding up the skinned animals so she could see as I walked passed her and up to the back door.

"There ain't no need for y'all to be out there that long!" she stepped in front of Daryl as he was about to step up onto the porch.

"Outta my way," he said with a scowl on his face.

"No way, I know you, you don't hunt for that long and only come back with a few pathetic squirrels, what were you doin'?" she put emphasis on the last few words and put her hands on her hips.

"What are ya? My god damn guardian or somethin'?" he took a step up onto the porch and stood mere inches away from her.

"What, were, you, doing?" she repeated a little more hushed. I took my cue from the exchange and slipped quietly into the house, whatever was going on there was clearly a long way from being finished and whatever they had to get out it was better they did it alone.

"Hey wow," Patricia was standing over the sink washing some of the vegetables that had been collected that day.

"Yeah, we gotta few, Daryl's got more," I said nodding towards the back porch where I assumed him and Andrea were still having it out.

"He comin' in?" Patricia said looking towards he door as I plonked the animals down in the other sink and rested my crossbow in the corner of the room.

"I..." I didn't get to finish my sentence just as Daryl stormed through the back door, threw the remainder of the catch onto the bench and pointed his finger at me.

"We ain't huntin' anymore if I'm goin' to get shit 'cause people think we're screwin' got it?" and with that he stormed out of the kitchen. I looked over at Patricia with a look of disbelief just as Andrea came into the kitchen with a scowl on her face that could strip the remaining skin off a walkers face.

"He isn't yours to touch you got that?" she said narrowing her eyebrows and glaring at me. I held my hands up in a mock defensive manner and nodded slightly.

"Good," and with that she went off into the main room with the others. I let my arms drop back to my sides and turned to Patricia.

"Ya must've upset somethin' there little lady," she said going back to peeling a potato she had just washed.

"Yeah," I whispered, "sorry Pat, 'Scuse me," I said softly and headed out to the porch grabbing the rifle by the back door on my way out. It was getting dark and someone needed to go on watch anyway.

There was something majorly amiss between Daryl and Andrea and for some reason I found myself in the middle of it all. I walked around to the side of the house and found Daryl leaning forwards on the handrail, his crossbow propped against the post near his foot. I stopped where I was and turned on my heel.

"C'm here," I heard Daryl say flatly. I let out a sigh and turned back around and walked over to where he was standing and leant against the handrail, my back to the paddocks, and folded my arms.

"Ya gonna say somethin' or am I just sittin' here starin at a wall for no reason," I said after a long silence.

"Huntin' with you was different," he said after a moment and straightened up.

"Awesome," I said sarcastically turning around to look out over the vastly and rapidly growing landscape.

"Don't give me that sarcastic crap," he hissed.

"Don't be a god damn asshole then," I retorted, "I don't want trouble Daryl, I ain't here to start shit with people, hell I ain't even _meant _to be here," I continued.

"Ya ain't the only one," he said quietly after a minute.

"If there's somethin' I'm missin' between you and Andrea then that's cool, but don't drag me into your twisted little love life," I turned to face him my left hand still resting on the wooden finished handrail.

"Now ya listen here ya little shit," he took a single step towards me and I found myself barely inches from him, "there ain't nothing goin' on between me and that girl, we were lookin' for Sophia and I got to talkin' to her about her sister and the like, there ain't _nothin'_ going on there ya hear me?" his eyes seemed to go six shades darker, like looking into the deepest, darkest blue of the ocean. There was a murky, tainted past that seemed to be concealed behind those electric blue eyes. I met his stare equally and after a second I felt my heart start to beat faster and it took almost all of my concentration to keep my breathing steady.

"_You _listen," I lowered my voice to barely a whisper and took my hand off of the rail and stood up straight, "whatever the hell ya have _or don't have _goin' on between the two of ya, it aint got squat to do with me, I ain't interested in ya love life, ya sex life or anything else in that field. Huntin' with someone that knows how to keep quiet, shoot straight and doesn't need to be babysat quite frankly is a huge change of pace 'round here. Don't fuck that over just 'cause some little blonde hair bimbo gave ya a bit of stick, ya hear me?" I raised my eyebrow and waited for his response. He nodded slightly and leaned forward so that his mouth was right next to my ear.

"Well, I do like a woman that can throw a good weapon around," his voice was so low and husky that it sent shivers all the way down my spine, he stepped back and turned back to watching the landscape around near us, a smile teasing the edges of his lips as he turned.

I took a breath and turned back to face the same way as him, that's when I saw it, or more, them.

"Shit, Daryl!" I grabbed his arm and pointed out over to the back left hand corner of the clearing.

"It's nothin'," he looked me in the eye, "we got it,"

"No, what we got is three bleedin' people in there," I said in a low hiss, "them things smell us like a fuckin' dog smells food," and without a second thought I moved slowly around to the back door and opened it. Thankfully Hershel had only lit a few candles in Carl's room, everyone else was sitting around in the practically non-existent evening light.

"We got company," I said as soon as I walked into the main room. Nine pairs of eyes fell upon me standing in the doorway.

"What do you mean?" Carol's voice was laced with fear as she held her still tired and exhausted looking daughter to her chest.

"Daryl and I spotted about five of them in the back paddock, it's fine, nothin' we can't handle but y'all need to go hole up in the main bedroom upstairs, Billy I need your eyes upstairs with that sniper of ours, I don't want to start pickin' them off yet, ya wait till I shoot first ya hear me, ya damn well _wait_, y'all need to move, move now, go," I added more emphasis on the last few words and after a split second everyone started moving.

"Lock all the doors pull the blinds I don't want no light or nothin' comin outta this house, ya hear me?" everyone began moving around running to doors and windows locking them with the deadbolts and slide bolt locks that Hershel and Billy had installed when everything first started.

"Hershel, company," I said poking my head through the doorway to Carl's room. He looked up from what he was doing and gave me a nod, Hershel was the one that had referred to them as 'company' once before and it was for that reason that I didn't have to say anything else to him in order for him to blow out the candles and lock all of the windows in the bedroom. As I was walking back out to the porch I heard Lori start questioning Hershel about what was going on.

"They ain't movin' fast, but then that ain't nothin new for walkers," Daryl whispered as I walked quietly up to him, making sure Hershel locked the front door behind me as I left.

"No surprises there," I responded quietly. I grabbed the rifle and lay down on the polished decking and looked through the finder. Hershel's farm was built on a slight slope so it overlooked the paddocks and fields that surrounded it, thankfully that meant that if anyone, or thing, were to stumble onto the land we would see it first. I looked over my shoulder and made sure that the whole house was dark. Hopefully this wasn't going to end in some sort of blood bath and we could keep going back to attempting to keep those people in there alive. I kept the outlines of the walkers in my sights but with only the moonlight as a source it was hard to keep trained on them.

"You got them?" Daryl lay down next to me his crossbow outstretched in front of him, as much as I love that as a weapon in these circumstances it wasn't much use, not at least until you could get a clear shot and in this light that would mean they had to be a matter of a few feet in front of you to get a clear head shot.

"There's five," I whispered back. I steadied my breathing and loaded the rifle so it was ready to fire as soon as I hit the trigger.

"Wait," he let his hand rest over mine lightly. My breath got caught in the back of my throat a little, I let my eyes drop down to look at his hand sitting over mine softly, I suppressed whatever it was that was going on in my head and looked back at the geeks moving through the field.

"I got the shot," I whispered as they slowly moved forwards.

"Don't, not yet," he whispered back.

We stayed there on the porch for what felt like any age, me watching their every move through my scope and Daryl lying next to me watching them. I took a few deep breaths, steadied myself and shifted a little. Just as the walkers got closer that's when I saw it... Or more, him.

"No," I breathed, raising my head over the top of the rifle and looking out into the clearing.

"What?" Daryl's voice was lower than before, barely audible.

"That's..." I lost my voice completely. My whole body went rigid and I couldn't move my eyes from the third corpse back sliding limply through the knee high grass. I couldn't make out to what extent he was decaying or bloodied, but I knew the jacket, the shirt, and worst of all... the hat, anywhere.

"God dammit girl what's wrong with ya?" Daryl shook my shoulder slightly. I blinked back the cold tears that had formed in my eyes and looked at him.

"That's my brother."


	4. Find a way

Authors note: none of the walking dead characters are my save for the character of Alice, she is my own personal creation, based slightly around myself (the family history aspect is NOT my own and I am not an American citizen) and other influential people that I have encountered. The plot line here does NOT follow the plot line of the Walking Dead Season 2 plot line, however is meant as an alternative story line, I have no access to plot lines or anything however if some spoilers correspond then that is oily coincidental and unintentional. If you have any comments or want to chat let me know, feedback is always appreciated and you can always follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos.

**CHAPTER FOUR**

I was stunned, of all the places, all the chances in the world and all of the farms, that zombified rendition of my brother has to stumble its ass onto this farm. I was staring at him, a flood of mixed emotions and memories came back to me all at once, memories of our childhood, both the good and the bad, the anger and disgust I had felt the day I left for Boston, the pride and happiness I had felt only last year, six years after I had left home, when he called me and told me that he was going to back highschool and working at the local shopping centre. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. That stupid baseball cap was the only really strong memory I had of him.

"You gotta make a move otherwise I'm gonna make it for ya," Daryl hissed shaking me harshly from my reverie. I looked at him the tears still threatening to burst over the edge of my eyelashes and fall to the decking beneath me. I blinked them away then took up at him again. Before I had a chance to do anything we heard the gun shot from upstairs.

"Mother..." it was on. I barely had a chance to register what had happened when Daryl was already up, crossbow at the ready and running down into the field. I cursed under my breath and ran out after him rifle in hand. It was going to make way too much noise and that would bring more of them over, I left it on the bottom stair of the porch and traded it for the pick ax that Hershel kept for emergencies. By the time I had gotten down there Daryl had taken out one of the walkers and Billy had shot another, in some respects I was grateful that it hadn't been my little brother that he had taken down.

"Ya gotta do it!" I heard Daryl yell at me just as his arrow wedged itself in between the eyes of the second last walker who crumpled limply to the ground. I looked over at him as he signaled for Billy to stop firing. I spun the ax in my hand a little.

"It's gotta be you," he repeated from where he was standing a few feet away.

I watched as my baby brother started fumbling towards me. The tears welled in my eyes again. It was definitely him, that same hat, the same dorky jacket I had told him no one liked. He was my little brother through and through right down to the fact that his right sleeve on his jacket was pushed up above his elbow and the other was down over his hand just like he always had worn it, except for the fact he was now the walking dead. He was growling, a deep animal style groan from somewhere inside his chest. His eyes were bloodshot and stained that jaundice, sickening yellow colour. I shook my head and took a step back as he got closer. His outstretched hand brandished red, bloodstained fingernails and what I caught was the glimpse of a tattoo on his forearm. I sidestepped him as he took a lunge at me, I realized then and there that on his outstretched right arm, was the word Alice, in big over exaggerated calligraphy styled writing. I took a breath and suppressed the urge to scream and break down, he and I had never been close, but seeing that tattoo broke my heart right then and there.

"I'm so sorry Danny," I whispered as he steadied himself and took another lunge at me. A lone tear finally broke through the barrier as I brought the ax up and embedded the pointed pick end right into the side of his skull.

I retracted the ax from the side of his head with a gut wrenching squelch as thick, congealed black blood ooze from the open wound. He instantaneously collapsed to the floor in a heap. I let out the breath I had been holding and with it came an onslaught of images and memories. I let the ax drop to my side and fall with a thud to the floor beside me. I felt dizzy, my head was spinning and all I could think about was what had just happened. I turned around and held my hand to my chest steadying myself and my mind.

"It's done," I heard Daryl's soft whisper behind me. All I could manage was a nod. I turned back around and looked to where his body was crumpled on the floor. I nodded slightly and slid down to my knees next to him. Daryl was standing off to my left, he had retrieved the arrows he had used and was holding them in his left hand while his crossbow hung by his side in his right. I sat back on my heels Japanese style and stared at what once would have been my baby brother.

"I can't leave ya out here, no tellin' if any more of them things are around," he said quietly.

"Get me the rifle," I whispered, barely audible to myself.

"I'm not gonna just..."

"DARYL!" I cut him off, "just get me that god damned rifle!" I spat angrily at him looking him dead in the eye. For the first time since I had met him, he didn't come back with some smartass response or pull a face or anything, he simply went and grabbed the rifle for me and returned back to my side setting it on the ground by my knees.

"Ya gotta make peace with this," he said softly looking down at the scene before him.

"Then let me make peace with it," I said softly. Letting my hands rest on my knees lightly.

"What the hell are y'all doin'? Ya gotta come back inside right now!" I looked up to see Billy and Glenn running towards where we were with Andrea and Maggie right behind them.

"Let her be," I looked up to see Daryl hold his hand up to Billy's chest stopping him dead in his tracks.

"She's gonna get herself and all of us killed!" he growled angrily.

"She needs to make peace with this!" he retorted equally as menacing.

"You weren't that understanding when I shot Amy," I heard Andrea pipe up.

"Don't ya even start that bull right now," I heard Daryl growl in a low tone.

"Fuck you Dixon," she spat and stormed back into the house.

"Ya gotta come inside Alice, ya can't stay here," Glenn said softly to me.

"Why the fuck can't she stay here, we got watch all night, she ain't that far from the house, ya need to give her the time she needs," Daryl said stepping in front of him.

"What if more of those things come out here?" I heard Billy say.

"Would everyone _please _just shut the hell up and LEAVE ME ALONE!" I raised my voice at the end and looked up at the group standing near me.

"I need time to sort this out and I need time to say goodbye to my brother, now would you all just piss off," I looked back down at Danny and sat back with my legs crossed in front of me. I was vaguely aware of Daryl snapping things in a low tone to the others and after a while they all ended up walking back inside and left me to my own thoughts.

After what felt like hours I found myself lying on my stomach with my arms folded supporting my head, simply staring at my baby brothers arm and the tattoo that wold forever be on there. I knew that he wasn't the same boy as the one I had left behind so long ago, but he was still my brother regardless, and no matter what happened to him, he still got that tattoo done willingly and knowingly. I trailed my eyes from his bloody, sullied tattoo stained arm to his face. Save for a blackened strand of flesh hanging down from his cheek exposing it right to the very bone, I couldn't help but notice that he was relatively unscathed other than that and a few claw marks and scratches up and down his arms. I stayed by his side all night long, Daryl came out and checked on me a few times, he brought my crossbow out to me at one point, he didn't say anything at all and the other times he just stood on the steps about eight yards from my position in the field and made sure nothing touched the two of us. Dale was the only one that came out and actually spoke to me. It was just starting to get light when he came out and sat with me, he explained what happened to Andrea's sister Amy and how she had to put a bullet through her head. I didn't say anything just sat and listened he explained that she needed to do it herself, it had something to do with it being who birthday and Andrea always missing her little sisters birthdays. It made sense to me on some level but I had zoned in and out of the conversation so I only really picked up the gist of it. He sat with me in silence for a while before resting his hand on my shoulder and then heading back into the house. I knew my body would be stiff and sore but I didn't care, there was something that seemed to almost sooth me being there next to him as the sun came up.

Maybe it was the fact that we used to watch the sun rise when we were really little, I have a vague memory of sitting huddled together in the living room behind the lounge chair looking out of the window, Mum had been on another bender that night and it was the only place we could find that she couldn't get to. Thankfully it was only a vague memory. I sat up once it was clear enough to see and pulled out the camera I had in my back pocket. I pulled the cover back then edged closer to his lifeless body and positioned the camera so that his tattoo took up the majority of the screen. I took a few shots of different sections, the buttons on his ridiculous jacket, his cap, his tattoo, things that I could carry with me, a reminder of him not as a rotting, infected corpse but as my little baby brother. The boy I had protected as a child, hated when I grew older and was proud of before all of this happened.

"That's just sick," I looked up to see Andrea standing about two yards from where I was sitting.

"I beg your pardon?" I said softly turning my camera off and standing up slowly.

"Takin' photos like that of your dead zombie brother, there's something disgusting about that, why would you do it?" she took another step forwards and looked at the corpse next to me.

"Almost as disgusting as lettin' ya sister turn into a zombie before poppin' one in her skull," I said flatly.

"How dare you! You can't talk about anything! You don't know anything that happened that night!" she half screamed lunging towards me. I sidestepped her and swiftly grabbed my crossbow, arrow already in position and took aim at her head. She spun to look at me and stopped dead in her tracks.

"Ya had ya chance to make peace with killin' ya sister, ya made the choice to keep her there with ya 'till she turned, that was ya choice, my choice ain't as easy, I took a pick to his head, what I do to make peace with that is my own choice, and ya ain't got no place talkin' shit about how I did that," I said calmly my crossbow unwavering in my arms.

"It's still disgusting, it's a disgrace and you should be ashamed of yourelf!" she spat angrily at me inching forwards.

"It ain't got nothin' to do with ya, and if this shit is about Daryl then take that back into the house and sort that with him, he ain't got squat to do with me and we ain't done dick," I said my arms beginning to hurt from holding the weapon so steady.

"How dare you!" she took a step forwards to have a go at me again. I took a step to match hers.

"Go on, I dare ya, I ain't got no problem puttin' one in ya skull right here, and I won't be so sick as to wait until ya turn before I take a pick ax to the back of ya head," I narrowed my eyes and glared at her, my whole body tense, it felt like I was standing in between the two of us watching the exchange, almost like I had no control over my own body.

"Come back," I felt a hand on my shoulder which jolted me a little. "Come back," they repeated, I blinked a few times and shook my head then let my right arm fall back to my side, the arrow now facing the floor next to my feet. I took a deep shuddering breath and relaxed a little.

"At least I showed some goddamm emotion and cried about it, what the fuck have you done?" she said as she quickly walked passed me and into the house. I turned to face the person beside me and did a little bit of a double back when I saw Daryl standing there, a new khaki colored singlet replaced his light blue one. I glanced over to the porch and saw almost everybody standing out there watching our exchange.

"I know that look," he said, almost as if he knew what I was going to ask, "it's that killin' look, like if whatever it is ya have ya sights set on moves, it'll be gone," he said quietly, I nodded in such a slight movement that only he could see it.

"I need a shovel," I said after a moment. He gave me a nod then headed back up to the porch while I turned back around, set my crossbow on the ground and went back to sitting next to Danny.

For the first time since I had put him down I leaned forwards and touched him. I pulled the necklace around his neck out from underneath his shirt and held the blood stained chain in my hand. It was the same necklace I had, I sort of modern set of sterling silver rosary beads that hung really low, around mid stomach area with a plain silver cross and black beads in place of the larger ones.

"I'm so sorry Dan," I whispered bowing my head, "I'm sorry for all the shit we went through and I'm sorry that when Dad skipped and Mum lost her diff I wasn't there for you like I should have been," I bit my bottom lip then slid the necklace easily over his head and held it in my hand. I pulled my own chain out from behind my singlet and held onto it with my other hand.

"For you little man," I said softly and, staring down at the two crosses in each of my hands, began to say the prayer that we used to say every night before we went to bed. I was so caught up in my own little world that I hadn't noticed that everyone had come to stand only a few yards away from us in a semi circle.

"...In nomine Patris, et Filli, et Spiritus Sancti."


	5. High School Reunion

Authors note: none of the walking dead characters are my save for the character of Alice, she is my own personal creation, based slightly around myself (the family history aspect is NOT my own and I am not an American citizen) and other influential people that I have encountered. The plot line here does NOT follow the plot line of the Walking Dead Season 2 plot line, however is meant as an alternative story line, I have no access to plot lines or anything however if some spoilers correspond then that is oily coincidental and unintentional. If you have any comments or want to chat let me know, feedback is always appreciated and you can always follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos.

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"What's with the other language at the end?" I turned to see Sophia standing next to me, her eyes bloodshot, dark black rings circling her sunken features.

"It was a prayer my brother and I used to say when we were kids, sorta made things a little more interesting instead of just saying the normal stuff," I replied softly looking from my brother back up to her.

"I'm sorry he's gone," she said and before I could have a chance to thank her Carol was already leading her away whispering something about being rude and careful who you talk to.

"Here," Daryl came back holding two shovels.

"Thanks," I said with a nod as I took one of the shovels from him.

"Y'all can't bury that dead guy here," I looked over at the porch to see Billy standing at the bottom of the stairs his shotgun in one hand hanging by his side.

"Where the hell else we meant to bury him?" came Daryl's angered response.

"Over there," he said using his weapon to point out towards the forest.

"How the fuck are we meant to carry the man out there?" Daryl spat looking from the corpse to the man on the stairs.

"Well that just ain't my problem is it," he said looking at everyone standing around us and then back at Daryl.

"I'll help," came the soft response from Glenn.

"Me too," Maggie added giving me a sad smile.

"I'm in," T-dog was looking less than well but hey.

"You always got my help if you need it," Dale said tipping his hat slightly and giving me a nod.

"Well then look at that, y'all got no problem now, better get a move on though otherwise ya won't get him buried in time, not that him decaying faster than he already was is a problem," Billy snipped, a sarcastic smirk spreading over his face.

"Go die in a hole," Daryl said grabbing my crossbow off the floor and firing a shot right at Billy which landed straight on target in the railing right by his hand. Billy jumped almost two feet in the air and pulled his hand away from the railing and stormed off inside with a scowl on his face.

"Nice shot," I said quietly.

"He's an asshole," he said with a shrug and then turned and strode quickly over to the stairs, propped my crossbow against the railing and came back to stand at the edge of the semi circle next to Dale.

"Let's do this then shall we?" Dale said looking around the group then back to me.

"Thank you," I said softly with a nod as everyone stepped forwards to help me carry my baby brother over into the forest.

Daryl and I dug the makeshift grave for Danny's body, Hershel came over with an old sheet he had found in the back shed and wrapped Danny in it. I was clutching his hat to my chest when Daryl, Dale, Glenn, Maggie and Hershel unceremoniously threw the body into the hole.

"Love you little bro," I whispered throwing the hat in after him and then grabbed my shovel and began to help fill in the remaining dirt. It wasn't long before the hole was filled and the bulk of the group were heading back to the house. I had opted to stay for a while and make sure that everything was out of my head before I headed into the house and made idle chitchat with the rest of the group. I stood there staring at the makeshift grave for a long time.

"It ain't easy is it?" I looked up to see Daryl standing across from me leaning against a tree trunk. I looked up at him with a scowl.

"Why're ya bein' so damn nice to me?" I said after a moment.

"Well shit if ya gonna get all pissy at me I'll stop talkin' to ya," he grumbled folding his arms across his chest. I couldn't help but notice that the simple action made his biceps protrude just that little bit more. I felt like my face was flushing bright red and quickly looked back down to the upturned soil at my feet.

"What's with the face?" he said quietly. I was incredibly aware of his movements towards me, each step he took so premeditated that it was almost like he was hunting. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and concentrated on his every movement, every breath, every step.

"Ain't no face," I said softly concentrating hard on the patch of soil by my feet.

"There's definitely a face," his voice dropped to barely above a whisper as he came to stand next to me, completely avoiding the newly filled grave at my feet. I narrowed my eyebrows and stared intently at the floor, he was so close I could almost feel the heat coming off of his body. I shook my head and tried to dull the electric current that seemed to be surging its way through my veins.

"Ya suck at lyin'," he whispered into my ear. His body was so close to mine that if I so much as shifted even a quarter of an inch I'd be touching him. I took a breath and turned to face him, folding my arms across my chest sort of protectively.

"Ya ain't as intuitive as ya think," I whispered, my lips mere inches away from his.

"Hm," he mumbled with a smirk crossing his lips, "intuitive enough to know ya want me," he raised an eyebrow.

"Please, baby if I wanted ya, ya'd know it already," I bit my bottom lip playfully an let out a slight groan. I looked up into his eyes, which now were an electrified blue, filled with lust and a raw passion I couldn't even begin to describe. I bent forwards slightly and kissed him on the cheek, making it linger just long enough before stepping back from him.

"Ya teasin' me now," he whispered his hand sliding down my arm a little roughly.

"Nope, just being nice," I said with a smile then slid passed him making sure my arm brushed against his as I passed.

I started towards the house again vaguely aware of Daryl taking a few moments before following after me. Thongs felt very strange, I had just buried my already pre-dead brother, that in its self is a strange thing for me, I had troubles grappling with the way I felt about my brother as it was but putting a pick ax through his head then burying him was a very foreign sort of thing to have done. Though I guess the whole entire world was quite foreign and alien these days. Then there was Daryl. That was a whole different kettle of fish. I barely knew the man, in fact I'd go as far as to say I didn't know the man at all, and yet there was something undeniably alluring about him. Something there that I had to stop thinking about because it seemed that Andrea was feeling the same sort of inexplicable interest. That could end badly for all involved.

"Nothing going on between you huh?" I ignored Andrea's snide remark as I grabbed my crossbow from the stairs where Daryl had left it and walked into the house.

"YOU AREN'T LEAVING!" Lori was standing in the doorway, steam practically erupting from her ears.

"What's going on?" I whispered to T-Dog who was leaning against the wall right next to the door.

"Rick wants to go find Shane, said he's been gone too long and he needs to go help him, otherwise Carl ain't gonna make it," he looked at me for a moment then shrugged.

"Lori! It's either I go or Carl dies!" Rick's rationality didn't seem to be making much sense to me either.

"Carl NEEDS you HERE damn it! You're the only one that has the same blood type as he does and he NEEDS you here!" she walked over to where Rick was standing and placed her hands on his cheeks, "I need you here," she whispered. I turned away not wanting to really intrude in their semi-private moment.

"I'll go," I nearly jumped out of my skin as Daryl walked into the room.

"What?" Lori turned to face him, her hands still resting on Rick's shoulders.

"I'll go find him and the supplies he's meant to have," he said calmly.

"Ya can't go there alone son," Hershel stepped into the room from the adjacent doorway that led to where Carl was battling for his own life.

"Why not old man?" Daryl retorted a slight twinge of malice in his voice.

"Do ya know these parts? Do ya even know where the high school is?" he responded, a questioning look on his face.

"Can't be that hard to find," Daryl quipped back.

"I'll go with him," I said suddenly, shifting a little awkwardly from one foot to the other.

"What?" Glenn and Maggie said in unison. I gave them both a strange look and then turned back to Hershel.

"That road down there leads right into the city huh?" I asked, to which he nodded slightly in response.

"Well, I used to walk that road all the time with people I knew that lived around here, I can get ya in and out of that place easily, I know the school, I know those hallways better than anyone and I can get ya there," I said addressing Daryl.

"Y'ain't comin' with me girl," he said folding his arms angrily.

"Ya don't have a choice here pal, it's either I go or you die, along with Shane and that little boy in there," I growled pointing at the room behind Hershel to make my argument a little more solid. I let my arm drop and looked around the room, ten pairs of eyes stared back at me; conflict, distress and uncertainty washing over all of them. Daryl took a few steps towards me closing the gap between us significantly before lowering his voice and speaking to me.

"I'd feel better if ya were here, ya head ain't healed properly yet and I don't want ya out there," he was staring straight into my eyes, the pale blue of his offering me a split second of a window into the depth of his mind. I stood my ground, there was no way in hell he was going without me.

"If she wants to go, let her damn well go," we both turned simultaneously to look up at the stairs behind us. Billy was standing there one hand on the rail the other holding a bag of arrows.

"What?" Daryl scowled.

"Let her go, but if y'all are goin' ya better go otherwise it'll be too late," he said handing me the bag over the side of the railing.

"Thank you," I said taking the bag and giving him a grateful nod. He pursed his lips a little in recognition then shrugged at the rest of the group staring at him expectantly.

Within the hour we were geared up and on our way down the road towards the high school, the sun beginning to make its way behind the horizon. The area had changed a lot since I was there last though it wasn't hard to remember the way.

"Bit of a wacky high school reunion ya gonna have huh?" Daryl said as we made our way across one of the overgrown paddocks.

"The whole damn towns wacky," I responded sliding my feet along the ground, like my Dad had taught us to do when we were walking in long grass to make sure there were no snakes or anything lurking around.

"Ain't much around these parts that's normal any more," he said checking over his crossbow as he walked.

"Nope, not anymore," I agreed.

"How long since ya been back here?" Here it goes, here's comes the personal story telling time.

"Six nearly seven years," I responded.

"That's a damn long time to be away,"

"Yeah well, I didn't exactly have the best lifestyle as a kid," I said readjusting the bag on my back.

"Drunken Father? Dead Mother?" he said stopping a few feet to my right and looking at me. I let out a heavy sigh and stopped a few steps ahead of him then turned to face him.

"No, Dad split, left me, my little bro and my Mom alone," I looked at the ground and bit the inside of my lip a little nervously. No one knew about my past, it was easier that no one knew.

"So? Absent parents don't mean shit," he said, clearly trying to get a rise out of me.

"No, but an alcoholic Mother that beats her children with anything she can get her hands on is a problem when you're growin' up," I said with a shrug trying to hide the malice in my voice.

"My old man used to use the chord off the iron," he said simply after a respectful pause.

"Mom's favourite was either the kettle chord or the baseball bat, depending on which one was closest, and how drunk she was," he winced at me and nodded his head. I looked up at him, held his gaze for a moment then started walking on slowly.

"There it is," we were standing about a hundreds meters away from the entrance to the high school. I could see the path leading down off to the left hand side that went straight onto the oval and into the bleachers. Straight ahead of us was the main entrance.

"How the hell did they get in there," Daryl said softly scanning the array of overturned cars and the few lifeless blood soaked bodies dragging their way aimlessly through the car park. I scanned the parking lot and the open field behind us, there were no indicators of anything being used to help them get into the building.

"Who knows, but I suggest we go around that way," I said nodding towards the left side of the buildings. I looked over at Daryl who nodded then crouching low to the ground started towards the oval. He was barely halfway out into the open when a single shot rang out echoing all around us. His head snapped up and turned to look at the few walkers in the car park. They seemed to have heard it as well as they started trudging towards the noise. Before I even had a chance to register, my body, almost of its own accord, was up and running towards the sound, Daryl close in step behind me.

We rounded the corner to see Shane limping painfully slow towards us, two gigantic bags hanging off of each of his shoulders. He looked up to see the two of us running towards him and almost collapsed a look of shear relief and exhaustion on his face. I slowed to a jog and stopped a few yards from Shane, I looked over his shoulder to the hoard behind him. Shane caught my eye and staggered a little just as Daryl got to him and all but ripped one of the bags off of his shoulder. I narrowed my eyes slightly and realized that the hoard weren't following Shane but were huddled around grappling for something on the floor. It hit me as hard as if someone had butted me in the side of the head with the end of my crossbow. It was only feint but I could hear the helpless pleading of Otis. My jaw dropped slightly as Shane and Daryl hobbled passed me.

"Damn it woman move ya ass!" Daryl's harsh tone shook me violently from my own little realization. I tore my eyes away from the feeding frenzy and started following the two back towards the truck keeping my crossbow at the ready the whole way back.

"Get in the tray, I want your eyes in the back," Daryl growled as he grabbed the keys off of Shane, opened the door and helped him into the passengers seat. I jumped over the side of the tray and positioned myself against the back railings of the cab.

I watched out the back, my crossbow up and ready the whole way back to the house. The only time I jumped out was to open the gate to Hershel's house and close it again after the truck was through. As I jumped onto the back I watched out over the quiet, open paddocks. It hadn't sunk in until right then, right there, sitting on the open end of the tray, my feet hanging above the gravel, I realized that the only reason Shane made it out of there alive was because Otis had served as the ultimate form of distraction. There was something in his eyes though, some sort of sickness as he limped towards us in that blackened driveway, those muffled sounds of Otis begging for help, the whole scene felt so wrong. The gun shot. The noise. The feeding frenzy. I was so lost in thought that I barely noticed Daryl skidding the truck to a halt as Shane clambered out of the cab handing the bags to Hershel who was already waiting expectantly at the foot of the steps with Rick, Lori and Maggie close in toe. I watched the reunion absently, the tears coming from Rick as he hugged his friend, the shocked look on Maggie's face as the understanding that Otis wasn't in the truck with Daryl hit her hard. I swallowed hard and looked up at the stars. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize what had happened back at that infested school yard.

As everyone headed back into the house, I overheard Hershel saying that they couldn't tell Patricia until after he had operated on Carl. I waited a little until I heard the front door shut before sliding off of the tray and clipping the tailgate back into its slot. I leant over the edge and grabbed my crossbow then started towards the front porch.

"I shot him," I stopped dead and looked down to see Shane sitting at the side of the truck, his knees drawn up to his chest. I swallowed hard and crouched down in front of him my hands resting on my knees, the crossbow hanging casually between my legs.

"I shot him, I didn't kill him, I only shot him so he couldn't run," he looked me straight in the eye. I felt completely winded, like someone had just reached right into my chest and squeezed my lungs as hard as they could. His eyes were bloodshot and wide, there was evidently so much going on in his mind at that point. I was at a loss as to what to say.

"Why didn't ya kill him?" I whispered looking down at my own weapon and weighing up what I would've done had I been in that same situation.

"I," he paused his whole body convulsing, "I thought they wouldn't bother if he was dead, a movin' target is more attractive," he was talking so fast I barely heard what he said. He dragged his fingers through his hair and hung his head. I held my breath slightly and looked him up and down. Even though he was well beyond the realm of 'fitness' he seemed so frail and scared. His eyes were wide and staring at his boots, his hands were shaking and every muscle from his biceps to his ankles was tense and quivering.

"Ya did it though," I said softly, "ya did it and ya did it to save ya own ass."

"No! No I didn't do it to save my own ass, I did it for Carl!" he said his head snapping up, his blood shot, tear stained eyes boring into my own.

"Ya can say whatever the hell ya want, ya did it to save ya self and ya need to admit that, otherwise this'll keep hauntin' ya to the day ya die," I said holding his gaze.

"No!" he lunged forwards taking me completely off guard. I fell backwards onto the gravel my crossbow falling to the ground. His hands gripped my wrists painfully, his fingernails digging into the flesh on the underside of my wrists.

"Ya listen to me woman, I didn't do that to save myself," he growled his face so close to mine I could practically smell the guilt on his breath. I steadied my breath and didn't move a muscle.

"Ya unhand her right now," Shane's whole body went rigid at the sound of the voice.

"How much did ya hear?" Shane asked, letting my wrists go hesitantly and sitting back on his haunches.

"Enough to know ya did what ya needed," I gritted my teeth together and looked up at Daryl, his crossbow was aimed steadily at Shane's temple, one move and he would be gone. Shane seemed to be grappling with a whole host of things, his body was rigid, convulsing and shaking uncontrollably, it seemed like this once composed man was all of a sudden completely undone.

"Let'er up," I heard Daryl whisper. Shane looked down at me, an onslaught of emotions flooding over his face.

"I'm so sorry," he stumbled over the words as he stood up shakily and fumbled his way over to the door, Daryl's steady sights never once leaving his head.

"Y'alright?" He turned to look at me, lowing his crossbow as soon as the door clicked shut behind Shane. I let out the breath I had been holding slowly and stayed where I was for a moment.

"I'm good," I said, giving myself enough time to sound composed. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, my body weight evenly distributed across my hands.

"Ya sure?" Daryl was kneeling next to me, his crossbow sitting almost triumphantly against the wheel of the truck.

"Yeah, just been a while since I was confronted like that," I said, forcing a smile. He studied my face for a long moment, almost like he was having some sort of internal battle of the wits or something. I shifted a little awkwardly underneath his intent gaze, he seemed almost as lost in thought as Shane was a moment ago. I was about to make a move to stand up when I felt his hand on my thigh, just enough pressure to keep me grounded. Before I had a chance to do or say anything his mouth was pressed against mine, his tongue running lengths up and down my bottom lip. I faltered for a split second before letting out a soft groan of approval and sliding my own tongue against his, matching his every movement.


	6. Conflicts

Authors note: none of the walking dead characters are my save for the character of Alice, she is my own personal creation, based slightly around myself (the family history aspect is NOT my own and I am not an American citizen) and other influential people that I have encountered. The plot line here does NOT follow the plot line of the Walking Dead Season 2 plot line, however is meant as an alternative story line, I have no access to plot lines or anything however if some spoilers correspond then that is only coincidental and unintentional. If you have any comments or want to chat let me know, feedback is always appreciated and you can always follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos.

**CHAPTER 6**

I matched his movements for a few moments before rising to my knees in front of him and gripping the front of his shirt with both of my hands. His right hand rested lightly on the side of my neck while his left trailed down to my lower back, pulling me closer to him. I groaned a little and pulled away from him, sitting back on my heels, my hands still holding onto his shirt.

"I been wantin' to do that since the day we went huntin'," he said softly, a smile teasing the corners of his lips.

"I ain't gonna lie," I whispered looking up into his eyes, "I been wanting' ya to do that since the moment I met ya," a sheepish smile coming over my face. He was about to say something when the front door opened and Lori burst out onto the porch closely followed by Rick. Daryl's hands slid forwards to my hands pulling them away from his chest and held them tightly as he turned to look over his shoulder at the couple on the porch. They seemed completely oblivious to the two of us sitting there by the side of the truck. Daryl brought my right hand up to his mouth and kissed it gently, then with a smile he let my hands go and stood up, grabbing his crossbow as he stood.

"Y'all okay?" He said walking up the porch steps and over to where the two were seated. While he was talking I grabbed my crossbow and quietly walked up the steps and into the house.

"Alice, that you?" I heard Hershel's voice come from Carl's room.

"Yeah," I leant my crossbow up against the wall by the door and walked into the room. He was halfway through the operation, Patricia was calmly and evenly pumping oxygen into the small boys chest. I blinked a few times at the scene before me, the casual nature of the two seemed to unsettle me more than anything.

"Could ya bring me that container over there?" he nodded towards the table off to the right. I quickly grabbed it and placed it down on the side of the makeshift operating table he was working on.

"Thanks dear," he said with a smile. All I could do was nod dumbly in response. I stood there staring as Hershel carefully picked his way through the bloodied mess pulling out tiny shards of the bullet every so often.

"Ya can go now darlin', we got it from here," Patricia said looking up at me with a warm smile on her face.

"Okay," I whispered then walked, almost zombie like, out of the room, shutting the door behind me as I went. The main living room was completely empty, the sweltering heat in there was enough to make me want to escape to the cool night air outside. I stood there awkwardly in that big empty room for a moment, that was when it hit. A single memory I had managed to suppress for a long time. I held my hand out to the couch and slid down onto the floor with my legs outstretched. The only thing I could manage at that point was to sit and stare at the floor, waiting for the horrible reminder of my childhood to pass.

"Y'okay?" I looked up to see Rick squatting down next to me. I bit my bottom lip and folded my arms over my chest and gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, just the whole surgery thing, kinda threw me a bit ya know?" I looked back down at my boots.

"Oh yeah, I know that feelin'," he said wincing as he sat down next to me and stared at the floor as well.

"My Ma used to be a nurse," I said simply pulling my legs up a little closer to my chest.

"Did ya used to go into surgery with her?" he asked.

"Not really, she used to do some small operation stuff at home sometimes," I said trying to block out the blazing memory of my mother giving herself a tracheotomy on our kitchen table to pump the alcohol from her stomach one afternoon.

"That's pretty intense kinda stuff," he said looking at me briefly then looking back at the ground.

"Yeah," I said quietly, "ya should go in there, I think he'll be finishin' up soon," I nodded towards the closed door ahead of us and gave him a weary smile. He didn't say anything just simply sat by my side for a while longer. I genuinely believe for some people that the simple presence of other living breathing human beings is enough to see them through torturous and complex ordeals. He was about to make a move when Hershel came through the door and stopped almost instantaneously in front of us. I looked at Rick's face as he jumped up from his position next to me and stared wide eyed and completely alert to the man standing before him.

"He's stable," Hershel said softly a smile on his face. Rick's whole body relaxed, a huge smile flooding over his face as he bear hugged the man in front of him, tears streaming down his face.

"Lori!" he yelled stepping back from Hershel and letting out a sharp laugh.

"What?" Lori burst through the front door her face painted with worry and despair.

"He's fine, he's fine baby, he's fine," Rick said quickly, as he walked towards her and pulled her to him.

"Oh my," she didn't finish her sentence just simply started sobbing into Rick's shoulder. I watched the exchange quietly for a moment then with a smile, I pushed myself up and slipped out of the front door onto the porch leaving the family to have their moment alone.

I barely made it out the front door when I felt someone grab my arm and pull me around into the darkened area at the side of the house. Before I had a chance to react, my back was pushed against the wall and a pair of hot lips were on mine. I suppressed a shiver than ran down mine spine and reciprocated the movement, my hands immediately going to my hunters back as he held me where I was. My head was completely swimming his tongue running gently in and out of my mouth, his teeth nipping at my bottom lip gently enticing me to discover his mouth a little more thoroughly. I groaned in response as his left hand trailed down my neck and gripped at my hip, pulling me closer to him. I couldn't help it, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed myself closer to him, the heat from his body completely engulfing me as I kissed him harder running my tongue into his mouth. His right hand fell from the back of my neck to the top of my jeans pulling lightly at the material. I smiled a little my whole body electrified with the heat of the whole situation. I bit the bottom of his lip slightly as his right hand trailed up underneath my singlet, the touch of his skin sending all of my senses into overdrive. God I wanted him so bad. I winced as his hands ran over my ribs and pulled back with a soft whimper of pain. He immediately stopped and tore his mouth away from mine, his hand still resting on my rib cage.

"What's wrong with ya?" he said quietly, the soft glow from the lights inside the house casting dark shadows over his confused expression.

"Nothin' it ain't nothin'," I said wincing as I tried to move his hand from my ribs.

"It sure ain't nothin'," his expression quickly went from confusion to anger.

"Daryl..." I didn't get to finish my sentence as he pulled the bottom of my singlet up revealing the deep, red, purple and black bruising that spread across my rib cage. I looked down at the tiny little space between the middle of us and tried to focus on my own feet.

"What the fuck happened to ya?" his voice was filled with a plethora of emotions, anger, disgust, concern, everything all coming out in those six little words.

"Nothin', I told ya," I whispered looking up at him and moving uncomfortably away from his grasp.

"This ain't nothin'!" he raised his voice making me wince a little in response, "what the hell did ya do to get this?" he growled his blue eyes boring into my very own, I narrowed my eyebrows, I had never been that submissive girl, no reason to start now.

"It ain't got nothin' to do with the likes o'ya so just back off!" I yanked my singlet out of his grasp and folded my arms protectively over myself all the while matching his glaze.

"Ya right, it ain't got shit to do with me," he spat looking me up and down then stormed off down the side of the house around to the back part of the porch.

I took a deep breath and steadied myself. Again with the mixed emotions, from being insanely turned on to being completely enraged. It was like some sort of sick roller coaster or something. I walked over to the edge of the porch and hoisted myself up onto the railing and let my legs dangle over the side. I let out a soft sigh and leaned against the pole, surveying the empty fields in front of me.

"What're you doing out here alone?" I looked over my shoulder to see Carol walking over to me.

"Just thinkin'," I said with a smile, readjusting myself so my back was against the pole, my left leg bent up and my right still dangling over the edge.

"It's a strange world isn't it?" she said softly resting her hands on the railing and leaning forwards a little.

"Well, y'know, it ain't like it was," I said leaning my head back and looking at her.

"No," she agreed. There was something about Carol, she had a perpetual look of distress and grief on her face. I imagine the ordeal with Sophia would've been enough but there seemed to be something more there, something deeper.

"It's better than what we had before though," she said after a while looking at me sideways almost like she was waiting for my reaction.

"How so?" it was more my own intrigue that made me ask than genuine concern for her life story.

"My husband used to hurt Sophia and me," she choked out through a sob. I bit the inside of my lip feeling awkward and turned to look over the fields again. I was never good with this stuff.

"Sorry," she said with a forced smile.

"We all got a past," I replied gently.

"What's your past like?" she asked turning to face me more directly. I took a slow, deep breath, the place on my ribs where Daryl's hand had been was throbbing something chronic.

"Somethin' I tried to forget," I said shifting a little to try and relieve the pain,

"Why?" she really wasn't going to let up was she.

"Full of conflict, full of absent people, all sorts of stuff, ya know, the normal," I said giving her an easy smile.

"I'm so sorry to hear it," she said a little awkwardly.

"It's nothin', ain't ever stopped me before," I said studying her face a little closer.

"Ha, my life seemed to stop me constantly," she said sadly.

"Why'd ya let it?"

"He controlled us in every way," her voice quavered a little, "if he didn't want us to do something and we did. Well. We'd get it, anything he could find. So many times I said I had fallen down stairs, or Sophia had fallen off her bike," she raised her hand to her mouth trying in vain to suppress her sobs,

"He ain't here anymore though," I said after she had found some composure. She looked at me, wide eyed like a dear in the headlights.

"What do you mean?" she asked softly.

"He ain't here to tell ya anything, he can't stop you from doin' things ya wanna do. If ya wanna drink, drink, if ya wanna hunt, hunt, I didn't see him around these parts stoppin' ya from doin' a god damn thing," I said leaning forwards a little. She seemed to be listening to me almost as if I was preaching gospel to her or something.

"Ya got control of ya own life now, the only thing ya gotta worry about is that little girl in there, other than that, ya ain't got much else to worry about," I said with a shrug. "Except for them dang walkers," I added with a laugh. She watched me for a moment before cracking a smile and laughing a little. It seemed like the first time I had seen her actually relax a little, she seemed to be completely at ease in that moment.

"Thank you," she said softly leaning against the railing and looking over the grounds in front of us.


	7. Skeletons in the closet

Authors note: none of the walking dead characters are my save for the character of Alice, she is my own personal creation, based slightly around myself (the family history aspect is NOT my own and I am not an American citizen) and other influential people that I have encountered. The plot line here does NOT follow the plot line of the Walking Dead Season 2 plot line, however is meant as an alternative story line, I have no access to plot lines or anything however if some spoilers correspond then that is oily coincidental and unintentional. If you have any comments or want to chat let me know, feedback is always appreciated and you can always follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos.

**CHAPTER 7**

The next day saw us doing the same old things, hunting, cooking, talking. I spent as much time as I could away from the house, away from Daryl and more importantly away from Shane. I understood the position he was in, but I didn't understand why he was sulking around making it almost bluntly obvious that something was amiss. Thankfully most of the others were passing it off as being him feeling guilty for not being able to save Otis. Though I knew that part of him was grappling with the fact he had shot a man and the other part of him was grappling with the concept that he didn't just leave him there, he left him there to be eaten alive when he could have out one through his skull and ended the whole thing. It wasn't something I understood, but his logic for doing it made some sort of sense to me. It was the issue of Patricia that got to me more so than Shane's neurotic actions. No one spoke much to her and if they tried she would stare off into the distance for a while before going back to whatever it was she was doing. She did her bit around the house more intensely than ever before, like there was some sort of force or something that stopped her from just sitting down and taking a breath.

I was back in familiar territory, the grass brushing lightly against my skin as I lay there watching the field before me. It's funny how things can change in an instant, how the very foundations of all you believe in can be shattered at once. More over, it can cause huge emotional distress. I was focusing hard on a spot at the base of the tree across the clearing when I saw them. Andrea standing with her back against the tree, her shirt lifted to expose the smooth pale skin of her stomach, I had to do a double take but it sadly my eyes were not playing tricks, there he was standing in front of her his mouth pressed firmly to the crook of her neck, I couldn't see his face but I knew that sleeveless ripped shirt and those boots anywhere. I sunk lower into the ground and shuffled backwards a little. The only thing I was grateful for at that moment was the fact that the grass was long enough to cover me completely. I moved backwards as quietly as I could, making sure I was out of sight before standing up and making my way back to the house.

I was trudging back across the open paddock, the grass brushing lightly at my arms as I walked. I was so focused on the ground in front of me that I barely noticed the gurgling groaning noise coming from the grass to my right. I continued on towards the house without paying it too much attention. I was a few hundred yards from front porch when I heard someone yelling at me, calling my name and frantically telling me to look to my fit. Without so much as a flinch I raised my crossbow, didn't bother taking aim and fired.

"Fuck off," I mumbled as the walker beside me collapsed to the floor in a heap. I dislodged the arrow from its skull with a squelch and continued on towards the porch.

"That is some serious attitude," Maggie said from her position on the handrail, as I stomped onto the porch and slung my crossbow against wall.

"Ain't no attitude," I growled, a little more aggressively than I had intended.

"There sure as hell is," she said drawing her leg up against her chest and raising her eyebrow at me as I came to lean against the railing next to her.

"Nope," I leaned my forearms on the wood and looked at the paddock.

"Why no catch then?" she said adjusting herself a bit.

"Wasn't nothin' out there to catch," I responded.

"Then ya clearly weren't huntin' in the right spot," we both looked over at the paddock as Daryl, Andrea and Billy were walking towards us.

"Well hot damn, that's a catch!" Maggie exclaimed as Billy walked up the stairs first brandishing a full string of squirrels and rabbits. Daryl followed behind him a small deer slung over his shoulder and his crossbow casually in his hand.

"Right, 'Scuse me," I said to no one in particular and pushed away from the rail, grabbed my crossbow and started off to the paddock.

"Ya gonna help me skin this deer?" came the familiar southern drawl.

"Get her to help ya," I spat as I walked passed him, not once making eye contact.

"Hey!" I didn't turn, just continued on to the field to clean my arrows off.

Hershel's farm had a small shed out at the very far end of one of the paddocks, I assumed it was a tool shed, probably storage for a few different bits and pieces, after all it looked like it could hold about four cars in there. I figured that Hershel would have some sort of quality cleaning products in there that I could use, I wandered all the way down to the very back end of the paddock and up to the big wooden sliding door to the shed. I was vaguely aware of someone yelling something from the porch but passed it off for nothing more than Andrea having a tantrum for not getting her way again. I slid the deadbolt back from the latch and heaved at the door, it didn't budge. I out my crossbow and arrows down and grabbed the handle with two hands. I leaned all of my weight back and heaved on the door. It took a bit of effort but it gave finally and slid open freely. I poked my head inside and had a look. It was relatively dark inside, though with the door opened the afternoon light was seeping in and illuminating the front half of the opened shed. I poked my head inside, making sure everything was safe before stepping inside to have a look. There was some old tools on the wall and some cabinets underneath, surely he'd have some cleaning agent in there. I knelt down by he cabinet and pulled the door open. There was a few old rags and a bucket with some detergent and the like in it. I pulled it out, studied it and smiled to myself, that'd work perfectly.

I was about to stand up when I heard a rustling behind me. I slowly stood up, the bucket and cleaning supplies in my hand and shut the cabinet. I didn't see any reason that Hershel would mind me borrowing some old rags but even if he did, I'd just have to explain that it was only a loan and I'd give them back as soon as I was done. I turned around with a half smile on my face and was met with a sight I sure as hell wasn't expecting. Standing there in front of me was one of the most sullied and decayed looking walkers I had ever seen. What flesh was left on her arms was dangling down in clumps, her eyes were nothing more than black pits in the middle of her skull, her jaw was dislocated and there was the remnance of dried blood on her collar. I took a step backwards as her frail, skeletal body shuffled towards me at a snails pace.

"What the hell are ya doin in here?" I whispered side stepping and looking her up and down. That when I saw it, around that scrawny, dislocated ankle was a thick metal shackle.

"What the..." I almost dropped the bucket when I suddenly realized that she hadn't just stumbled into this shed, she had been kept here on purpose. Her left arm was still outstretched towards me, the knuckles protruding at a sickening height. I pushed myself up against the corner where the door and the cabinet met and just looked at this monster attempting to get closer to me.

She was a mere two feet away from me, when the clinking noise of the chain rang out. She'd reached the end of her rope, so to speak. Her hand was still flailing in front of her, a few inches from my face, the chain pulling at her ankle. There was something disturbing about this whole encounter, why would anyone chain a dead, hungry human to the inside of a shed. I stood there somewhat stunned and somewhat disgruntled by the whole thing, staring at this decaying, starved mess of what once would have been a girl.

"What the hell are ya doin in here?" I looked over at the opening to see Hershel standing there with a mixed expression of rage and distress on his tired face.

"Gettin' cleanin' supplies," I said rattling the bucket in my hand a little. The walker seemed utterly confused. Her head was slowly turning from me to Hershel then back to me.

"Ya got no right snoopin' around in my shed!" he growled.

"I weren't snoopin' I was lookin' for somethin' to clean my arrows with," I growled back.

"Ya should've asked me," he spat back.

"Can ya help me here a little at least?" I said nodding towards the confused walker in front of me.

"Lacey," he said after a moment, "Lacey come here darlin'," he was actually calling her. There seemed to be some sort of recognition flash in her eyes, a split second where her brain almost seemed to register what was going on. I stared dumbfounded at her as she began to slide slowly towards where Hershel was standing. I was vaguely aware of my mouth hanging open at the unfathomable event that had just occurred, could it be possible that there is still some sort of remainder of human memories, some sort of recognition or understanding in a person that had been turned?

"Get out," Hershel said his eyes darting to mine for a moment. I nodded gratefully and slipped passed the rotting mess and out into the diminishing sunlight.

I grabbed my crossbow with my free hand and headed up towards the house. I only made it a few paces before I heard the shed door slide shut and the deadbolt snap into place. I should've kept walking, though unfortunately my better judgement didn't quite kick in in time to stop me.

"Who is she?" I said turning to face Hershel. He stopped where he was and looked up at me for a moment before lowering his eyes.

"Who the fuck is she? Why would ya keep someone locked up like that? That's just sick man," I didn't really mean it to sound so angry and filled with hate, but the whole situation made no sense to me at all and I just wanted to make some sort of clarity of it. He still said nothing just stood there looking completely disorientated and confused.

"Who is she?" I raised my voice letting the bucket in my hand clatter to the ground loudly. "Explain to me why ya would be so god damn sick as to keep someone locked up like that! Dyin' from starvation and the like! Answer me old man!" I was getting more and more annoyed.

"Her name is Lacey," he looked up at me, tears welling in his eyes, "She's my oldest daughter."


	8. It's only the beginning

Authors note: As per usual, I have no rights to any of these characters or the plot lines. This is all my own concepts and creations, if it coincides with the tv series or the comic books, it is a matter of coincidence. A little note about Alice, her past is not my past, but her values etc are loosely based on myself. One final thing, the next few chapters are going to get a little graphic ;) if ya catch my drift. If you're not into it please don't read it, I'm a little nervous writing this kinda stuff cause I've never done it before so please, be gentle with the criticisms :) enjoy!

**CHAPTER 8 **

"What?" I breathed.

"She got bit, so I, I," he stuttered a little, took a deep breath then continued, "I shot her through the chest, I didn't know she'd come back," he sighed.

"Why'd ya keep her? Why the heck didn't ya just pick ax her to the head, or shoot her through the eyes?" I said leaning down to grab the bucket at my feet.

"I couldn't do it. She was my first born, she was a beautiful girl when she lived. So I dragged her into the shed before she turned and chained her in there," he took a few steps forwards and came to stand in front of me.

"Billy and Maggie both know, we come down and feed her a squirrel every few days, no one seems to notice. I just can't bare to let her go yet," his eyes were as big as saucers, this whole thing seemed to be taking more of a toll on him than I may have thought. I pursed my lips a little and focused on his eyes. There was something there, some dislodged sense of love or something, he seemed so confused and embarrassed by the fact that I had uncovered his little secret.

"It ain't right Hersh," I said after a reasonably long pause.

"I know it ain't, I know, but I can't let her go. Ya can't tell anyone about this! Ya gotta promise me," the frantic tone in his voice as he closed the gap and placed his hands on my arms got to me. He was definitely grappling with a lot of guilt and distress and who the heck was I to come into his house and dictate how he lived his life. Especially after he had practically saved me when I rocked up a few weeks back.

"Alright, ya have my word," I said softly, shaking my arm a little until he let go.

"Thank ya," he said looking at the ground and then quickly heading back to the house. I stood there staring at the shed for a while. It didn't sit right with me, the ethics of the whole thing was way out of whack, but then I guess there wasn't much happening in this world that was really ethical any more.

I cleaned the tips of my arrows thoroughly and left the bucket and cleaning supplies by the back door.

"I'm gonna need them," I looked up to see Daryl walking up the steps.

"Sure," I said staring down at my crossbow and checking it was clean for the seventh time.

"Y'alright kid?" Daryl leant down next to where I was kneeling and grabbed the cloth out of the bucket.

"I ain't no damn kid," I grumbled standing up quickly.

"Well, I'm a fair bit older than ya..." he said resting his elbows on his knees.

"How old're ya then?" I questioned angrily.

"Thirty seven," he replied simply giving me a strange look.

"Big whoop, thirteen years ain't shit, not like it matters anyhow," I made sure that the last part was significantly quieter than the rest.

"Now what the hell is that supposed t'mean?" he stood up quickly, towering over me slightly.

"Don't play dumb with me ya redneck hick, I saw ya!" I took a step forwards closing the gap between us, giving him the very best evil stare I could.

"Saw me where?" he raised his voice a little and matched my stare.

"I'm the woods! With Andrea! C'mon, against that tree in that damn clearin', sure as hell looked like the two o ya were gettin' bette acquainted!"

"Get o'er yaself ya trailer trash little shit! I weren't even near them dang woods, let alone that fuckin' clearin', I knew ya'd go back there first so I went deeper in them woods," pure rage flashed across his sullen features. I narrowed my eyebrows and focused on his face.

"But I saw ya, I saw ya with her," I said my voice wavering slightly.

"Did ya? Did ya see my face? Get a clear fuckin' ID on me? I mean shit, what the hell do ya take me for? I ain't that kinda guy!" he fumed.

"What kinda guy? The kinda guy that walks off and doesn't talk to the girl he was kissin' on the back porch? The kinda guy that loses his shit just cause that girl doesn't wanna tell him what happened to her!" I folded my arms expectantly.

"I asked ya what happened and ya told me it weren't none of my business!" he retorted.

"Well it ain't," I said quietly, "don't make it right that ya go and find some other gal that's willin' to put out."

He was about to come back with some sort of comment when someone cleared their throat. Both of our heads snapped towards the open back door. Andrea was standing there looking at the two of us sheepishly.

"Oh good, the hell with ya both!" I was about to storm off when she stepped out from her position and grabbed my arm.

"Please wait, it wasn't him you saw me with in that clearing," I yanked my arm out of her grasp angrily as she spoke.

"What the hell ya talkin' about?" I growled.

"I wasn't with Daryl, I was with someone else," she said looking at the two of us.

"Who?" he narrowed his eyes a little at her.

"Billy," she said simply.

"See woman! I told ya it weren't me," he said turning to face me.

"Oh please Daryl, the night you stalked off from her you came straight to me," she raised her eyebrow almost triumphantly at me.

"What?" I breathed, I felt like someone had kicked me in the chest.

"You heard me, last night, he came straight to me, found me in the bathroom," she had this smug look on her face.

"Shut ya mouth," he barked at her his body going tense.

"We did it so good, God, you wait, you just wait till he gets to you. My God girl, you're gonna love it, the way he sucks," she stepped towards me, "and fucks," I was staring at the floor my fists clenched tightly at my sides. One more step and I was gonna throw her down those damned stairs.

"Andrea I ain't tellin' ya again!" Daryl half yelled.

"The way he so slowly touches, every, inch, of your body," she let out a soft groan and bit her lip, her body inches from mine.

"God, and when you cum, oh my, that's an experience to remember," she lowered her voice.

"Fuck you!" I grabbed her hair in one of her hands and threw her against the hand rail.

"Bring it on!" she squealed at me lunging at me and tackling me into the side of the house. There was no chance in hell I was letting her get away from this easy. I managed to raise my elbow above her back and hammered it down hard into her shoulder. She collapsed to the ground with a thud. Before I got the chance to catch my breath she was on her feet. She threw a punch with her right and it connect, hard, with the side of head. I staggered to the side a little, seems blondie can fight.

I dodged her next swing and connected one of my own, I felt the skin on my already bruised knuckles give, the sting that came with it was nothing compared to the kick that she managed to land a kick to my knee causing me to buckle to the ground. I took a few more hits to the face as she straddled me. That's it. Time to end this. I grabbed her arms and rolled her over so she was on her back, I lodged my knees into her forearms, pinning them by her sides and started hitting. I hadn't fought a lot, but when it came down to it, I knew how to hold my own. I could feel the flesh on my knuckles tearing away as I hit her, I felt her nose break, felt the connection when I hit her in the jaw. I was about to land one final blow, the one that would break her jaw clean when I felt someones arms around my waist. I felt myself lift up and instantaneously I started thrashing around, kicking my legs like crazy trying to get the muscular arms around me to put me down.

I was slammed against the wall and pinned there, breathing heavily, blood cascading down my face from a gash on the side of my head and a bloodied nose I couldn't move. Daryl was standing in front of me, his knee jammed between my legs so I couldn't move and his hands holding mine above my head. I struggled a little more with him and he threw me against the wall a little. With a painful gasp I felt one of the cracks in my rib get just a fraction bigger.

"Calm the fuck down," he growled, his voice low. I breathed heavily, matching his gaze.

"Breathe," he said softly. I clenched my teeth together and glared at him, attempting to steady my breathing.

"Let me go," I growled through clenched teeth.

"Not 'till ya hear me and ya calm down," he said gripping my arms tighter.

"Let me GO!" I struggled against him again.

"Listen!" he hissed as he dug his fingertips into my wrists. I let out a few quick breaths and began to calm myself down, the adrenaline still surging through my body.

"Ya listenin' to me?" he edged his face closer to mine. I blinked some blood out of my eye and met his gaze then gave him a single, slow nod.

"She's doin' it to get ya angry, and ya gave her exactly the reaction she wanted," he adjusted his knee so it was pressed against the wall anymore.

"Did ya do what she said?" I whispered.

"Did I sleep with her? No," he lowered his head so our eyes were level.

"Ya lyin'," I growled.

"I ain't lyin' to ya, I didn't sleep with her. She tried, she kissed me yes, but I told her I weren't in the mood," he inched closer to me.

"She fucked Billy," he said gently.

"How would ya know?" I whispered biting my lip a little.

"I walked in on 'em," he said simply. Letting my arms go and stepping back from me. I dropped my arms painfully to my sides and rested my head back against the wall.

"Why'd she do it?" I asked quietly.

"She ain't sure if she wants to be here, she's lost, she needs comfort, she needs conflict. I'll guarantee ya she needed ya to hit her so she could feel alive or somethin'," he shrugged.

"She ain't a half bad shot," I mumbled running my thumb along my cheekbone softly.

"Gal's got a lotta rage," he said matter-of-factly, "come on, let's get ya cleaned up," he took my hand gently n his and lead me inside.

No one asked what had happened as we walked inside and headed up the stairs to the bathroom. Hershel gave Daryl some medical swabs and some bandages and left us to our own devices. Daryl sat me up on the little table in the bathroom and began gently cleaning my wounds. He cleared up all of the blood from my face and knuckles before starting to disinfect the open wounds.

"Ya seem pretty good at this medical stuff," I said as he held a small bag of ice against the shiner that was starting to form on my left eye.

"My Old man used to get into fights all the time, same as my brother," he said pulling the ice away and prodding the bruise a little.

"Yeah, that's normally how it goes," I said softly focusing on my knuckles.

"I know it ain't none of my business, but what happened to ya ribs?" he asked gently after a few minutes.

"Put it this way," I swallowed heavily, "walkers ain't the only thing ya gotta worry about out there."

"What're ya sayin'?" he questioned narrowing his eyebrows a little.

"These," I lifted my shirt a little so he could see the bruised clearly, "these were from someone I knew. I was holed up for a few days with a guy I knew, we were romantic and one point but it ended pretty quick, he weren't exactly the greatest dude I'd ever met. Anyhow, I was out gettin' the gun supply a girlfriend of mine back in Boston had told me she had stashed a long time ago, turns out the guy I thought had my back, in fact had me ambushed," I gulped and played with the bruised appearing on my knuckles.

"What'd that pig do?" I looked up, Daryl was staring at my rib cage intensely, a look of hate and disgust flashing across his eyes.

"He got his mates to come and get the stash I had. The brought baseball bats and that's all she wrote," I said with a shrug.

"They do anythin' else to ya?" he looked me dead in the eye. I clenched my teeth a little then bit my lip. They had. But there wasn't anything that could be done about it now. I was about to answer when the door burst open and Dale was standing there looking flushed and panicked.

"They know we're here," he gasped. Daryl exchange a confused look with me as we followed Dale out of the bathroom and down the stairs. Sure enough, the hazy gold glow of the afternoon sun was casting just enough light to show us the hundred or so walkers heading towards the house.

"Oh, shit," I looked at Daryl who simply raised his eyebrows a little and returned my gaze.

"Let's get this place secured," he said going to join the rest of the crew locking and dead bolting everything.

It didn't take us long before everything was secured and we were all armed and waiting patiently for the hoard to hit. I was crouched by the lounge chair watching through a crack in the boarded up window. Daryl was across the room from me watching out of the other window. The whole house was silent, Rick and Lori were in the other room with Carl who was still immobile for the time being. He was the number one priority at the moment, if any sort of infection got to him that would be it. He would be gone. The others were fanned out throughout the house, Carol, Sophia, Dale, Hershel and Andrea were upstairs whilst Patricia, Maggie, Billy, Glen and T-Dog were down in the other rooms downstairs. Shane was sitting right next to Carl's bedroom door a rifle clutched to his chest tightly. I steadied my breathing and watched the hoard crossing the yard getting closer and closer with every passing moment.

"Hershel said this would happen, he said they'd been getting closer and closer over the last few weeks," came the panicked whisper from Patricia.

"Sssh," I hissed.

"Ya know this is gonna be the end right? Ya just know they're gonna come in here and find us and that'll be it," she was getting louder.

"I mean it girl shut it!" I barked at her from the other room. Everything went silent once more after that.

"Ya ready for this?" Daryl had shuffled closer to me.

"For what?" I whispered back.

"This fight, there's gonna be a lotta killin' goin' on," he said simply.

"Well shoo, what makes ya think I can't handle a little blood?" I laughed lightly.

"Shut it y'all, ya hearin' that?" we both fell silent at Shane's angry whisper.

I flattened myself against the floorboards and focused my attention outside, sure enough the heart rendering sound of boots on the decking outside rang out through the silent house. I took a sharp inhale as a dislodged, broken and blood stained boot slid its way in front of the crack I was peering through. I looked over to where Daryl was lying next to me, he held his fingertip up to his lips mouthing for me to stay quiet. Everyone was silent, so much so infact that you could hear a pin drop. The only noise was emmenating from outside, the sickened squelching of the rotting corpses outside. The groaning of hungry stomachs searching for any sort of substance they could find. Hundreds of bodies shuffling forwards, groaning and spewing forth a fowl stench of putrified blood and insides. I clutched at the rifle tighter in my bruised hands. My heart was pounding, threatening with every frantic beat to burst through my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, trying to steady my nerves, when everything went to hell in a basket right then and there.

"They're coming through the back door!"


	9. Cannon Fodder

Authors note: As per usual, I have no rights to any of these characters or the plot lines. This is all my own concepts and creations, if it coincides with the tv series or the comic books, it is a matter of coincidence. A little note about Alice, her past is not my past, but her values etc are loosely based on myself. One final thing, the next few chapters are going to get a little graphic ;) if ya catch my drift. If you're not into it please don't read it, I'm a little nervous writing this kinda stuff cause I've never done it before so please, be gentle with the criticisms :) enjoy!

**CHAPTER 9**

I scrambled across the floor as quietly as I could manage and into the kitchen. Glenn and T-Dog were leaning against the broken door, straining feebly to keep the creatures at bay. I shot Daryl a glance then with a nod we both opened fire. There goes the no noise thing.

"We can't hold em!" Glenn yelled painfully. As soon as he said it another wall shuddering crack emanated from the door, a giant crack beginning to show down the middle of the wooden door.

"Did y'all hammer them planks onto the door?" Daryl barked.

"We didn't have a hammer or nails!" Maggie said from the top of the stairs. I shot her a glance then without so much as a second of hesitation walked over to the door, planted the bottom of my cowboy boot right in the middle of the split door, shoved the tip of my gun through the tiny crack then opened fire. I leaned all of my weight onto the door and kept firing steadily. Glenn ducked to the side holding his ears and T-Dog remained kneeling though he un-holstered his gun and started firing through the crack on the side of the door as well.

"Back! Get back!" Daryl yelled, he was standing a few feet away from the door holding a hand gun in one hand and nail gun in the other.

"Ya gotta be kiddin' me Rambo!" I yelled at him, peering over my shoulder and the ridiculous display of masculinity.

"MOVE!" he yelled again. I looked down at T-Dog then with a slight nod we both moved back from the door. As soon as we were clear the door split open and, just like flood gates being pulled open, the walkers all but fell into the room. Daryl didn't skip a beat he shot, almost every single one of them dead on in the middle of the head. The nail gun in his hand clicking every time he shot a round. I took a few of the walkers out with my rifle and before we knew it the onslaught had finished.

"There's more! They're still coming!" Billy was running down the steps two at a time to meet us in the kitchen.

"We don't have enough power to keep em out!" Shane was standing at the opening between the two rooms.

"We don't have time!" I spat frantically reloading my rifle with rounds from my back pocket.

"Down!" I yelled as I fired at the two skeleton-like puss balls trudging into the kitchen. There was a moment of panic as the group from upstairs clambered down into the kitchen area.

"We can't have everyone down here!" I all but screamed, "We're like sittin' ducks!" I looked over at the top of the stairs and back to the door. We were right in the open, no one was upstairs, no one was in the other room, Carl was still in there smelling like fresh blood.

"Keep everyone safe, bolt up this door as soon as you can," I looked over my shoulder to see Patricia standing in the doorway.

"What ya talkin' bout?" I growled at her giving her a confused look. She gave me a sorrow filled smile, raised her right hand to touch my cheek slightly then before anyone had the chance to react she ran out through the open door and into the certain destruction outside.

"PATRICIA!" I heard Maggie's scream from behind me, I stood there staring at the empty space in front of me. I looked over my shoulder and the distressed group behind me, everything that happened next happened so fast I almost missed it.

In that moment that I turned Billy jumped over the edge of the platform that stood about a foot above the kitchen floor and ran out after Patricia.

"Shut that door!" was the last thing I heard from his as he sped off into the night after his Father's friend. Andrea let out a piercing scream and lurched forwards to follow him, though she was silenced and stopped almost instantaneously as Shane appeared behind her, his left hand over her mouth and his right around her waist as he carried her off into the adjoining room.

"Get them pieces o' wood!" Daryl shouted at T-Dog and Glenn. They both scrambled over to the pieces and grabbed a few each. I threw my gun to the side and heaved the door back up to its spot. I leaned all of my writ against it s the boys frantically nailed the few planks of wood we had onto the doorframe. Maggie was sobbing hysterically in the corner of the room, Hershel was beside her trying to keep her quiet and we worked manically to get the house secured once more. I stepped back as T-Dog, Glenn and Daryl finished nailing the planks into position. The whole room was heavy with a sense of desperation and complete disarray. I grabbed the rifle off of the floor carefully and silently made my way into the other room. Shane was sitting with his back against the far corner of the room, his hand was still covering Andrea's mouth though she seemed to have stopped thrashing about and was laying against his body sobbing silently into his chest, his arm was wrapped around her waist still holding her still and his breathing was as raspy and heavy as hers was.

I stood in the doorway for a minute, clutching the gun to my chest, my mouth slightly open as my brain started to slowly process what had just happened. I couldn't tear my eyes away from Shane and Andrea in the far corner of the room. Shane was staring wide eyed at the floor a few feet in front of him, his whole body rigid and tense as he clutched Andrea to his chest, her sobs only just audible now.

"We gotta keep watch," I nearly screamed as Daryl appeared at my side. I clutched my hand to my chest and nodded quickly.

"C'mon," he took my hand in his and led me back to our positions by the windows. I lowered myself to the floor and peered out through the window. I was met with a dozen more broken and sullied pairs of shoes, though it seemed they were moving away from the house instead. I inhaled sharply and stared out into the open field. My body was so tense I could hear every single little noise throughout the house. I could hear Andrea still whimpering into Shane's chest, I could hear Maggie's harsh whispers from upstairs as she argued with Hershel about whether her brother and friend would be okay, I could hear Glenn's raspy breathing and the violent, pain filled groans of Carl in the other room along with Rick and Lori's hushed voices telling him to be quiet. I sat focused straight ahead on the group outside moving away from the house and further towards the woods.

"Psst," I snapped my head to the side and looked at Daryl, "C'm here," he moved his head to indicate for me to come closer to where he was lying. I silently shuffled closer to him, so close that our arms were right up against each other. I let my chin rest on the hard wooden floor and took a deep breath. Within that second, my whole body seemed to relax completely. I let go of all the tension I was carrying and just lay there, it seemed that the simple, lightest touch from the man beside me could have the most adverse effect on me, an effect that I had ever experienced. The sheer warmth radiating from his skin made the hairs on my arms stand up, it made my stomach tingle and gave me a sense of security and safety. Something I had never truly felt since the day my father had walked out. I leant down and lightly pressed my lips to his forearm. His head turned away from the spot in between the boards instantly and watched me closely. His skin was beautiful and warm, surprisingly soft as well, especially considering the amount of work he does with his hands and the like.

"What're ya doin'?" he whispered after I lifted my lips away from his skin.

"Nothin'," I replied gently then went back to looking out through the boards and across the field.

We stayed like that for a long time, watching over the fields, making sure there wasn't any more attacks or anything. I was up most of the night laying there next to Daryl, though the last thing I can remember is seeing was Shane walking Andrea up to the bedroom upstairs, everything after that was nothing more than blank. I slowly opened my eyes only to find myself curled up with my head on Daryl's chest and his arm resting heavily across my stomach. I lay there for a while my ear on his chest listening to his heart beat steadily inside his chest. I lay there staring at the wall for a while before rolling out from under his arm and looking out into the field. There was nothing to see out there, it seemed that all the walkers had gone, the distraction had worked. The question was, did Patricia and Billy end up getting out alive.

"C'm back here, ya too far away, I can't hear ya heart beat," I turned my head and looked at the man next to me, his hand was gripping mine gently, lightly coaxing me back to lying next to him. His voice was so groggy and laced with sleep that I could only just make out what he had said to me. I shuffled over to where he was lying and propped myself up on my elbow.

"Ya somethin' different Mr Dixon," I said softly running my fingertips through his hair a little. He groaned quietly in response and turned onto his side so he was facing me.

"Ya make it so damn easy to like ya more and more," my voice was so soft I barely heard myself. I watched him for a moment longer before leaning forwards and planting a soft kiss on his lips before standing up and doing a damage check on the house.

I stalked softly through the main room where we had slept. Shane had come down and was curled up against the corner of the room his rifle clutched tightly to his chest. He was sound asleep though his body was still rigid and alert. I very quietly opened the door to Carl's room, he was sound asleep in the bed, looking a little more colorful than he had a few days earlier, Lori was curled up next to him sound asleep. Rick was wide awake staring out of the crack between two boards covering the window. He nodded at me and gave me a sad smile, I returned the nod and shut the door silently. It made me wonder if he had seen Patricia and bully run out to distract the walkers earlier on. I rested my head back against the door and took a deep breath. There was going to be some serious carnage to deal with this morning, after all the two last night had basically become cannon fodder in order to protect the rest of us. I looked down at Shane who was staring back up at me, I gave him a little nod and continued on to the other room. The kitchen was the biggest distraction area, it was almost a given considering that was where everything had gone down, T-Dog was slumped against the kitchen cabinets in front of the door his gun loosely in his hand by his side. Glenn was curled up near the steps next to my crossbow and the nail gun, Maggie was lying with her head on his thigh. He looked worse for wear though for some reason I didn't have as much sympathy for him as I had thought I would have, Maggie didn't look much better than he did though I understood her pain whole heatedly. Losing a friend and a brother I couldn't blame her for seeking some comfort that night. I walked over to the back door with it's slapstick makeshift barrier still standing in tact. I squatted down near the entrance and looked out through the cracks where the light was beginning to seep through. The mess at the foot of the door was the equivalent of a slaughter house floor after the first morning shipments have come in. It was a barrage of limbs, rotting corpses and blackened blood sprayed from A hole to B hole.

I stayed there for a minute making sure nothing was moving at the door then tuned and headed towards the stairs. I trudged up them quietly and pushed open the heavy door to the upstairs room. Andrea, Carol and Sophia were curled up on the bed sound asleep, Hershel was sitting by the window his rifle propped at the ready on the windowsill. Dale was sitting in the chair next to the girls watching me as I waved lightly at him. He gave me a smile, pushed himself out of the chair and walked over to where I was standing.

"How are ya?" his husky voice reminded me so much of a father figure that I couldn't help but smile when I heard him talk.

"I'm doin' alright," I said adjusting the rifle in my hand a little.

"I heard about what happened out there on the porch earlier," he lifted my chin gently with his right hand and turned my head so he could see my eye.

"She's a good hit," I said almost proudly.

"She's been through a lot," he said letting his hand drop.

"I know she has, kinda why I'm givin' her the benefit of the doubt with it all, she ain't a bad chick, she just needs a bit of guidance," I said with a shrug.

"Ya have some pretty interesting insight for such a young girl," he said a look of surprise on his face.

"She's been through her fair share of troubles," Hershel said softly without turning or moving from his position by the window. Dale looked from Hershel to me and raised his eyebrows a little.

"It's nothin'," I shook my head lightly and shrugged, "I'm glad these guys are okay at least," I nodded towards the bed.

"They're hurtin', Andrea is devastated, she lost her sister now a guy she could have potentially fallen for, she's not in a great place, and it may mean you cop the blunt end of it all," he said matter-of-factly.

"I know," I nodded slightly and let out a sigh, "I'll come back up when it's lighter," and with that I left the room and shut the door quietly behind me.

I walked down a few of the stairs then sat down just out of sight, around the corner so I was staring at the wall near the busted kitchen door. I let my rifle sit on the stair next to me and held my head in my hands a little. It seemed that everyone had had enough of the devastating events the night before. As I sat there staring at the blank wall I began to realize a few crucial things. I looked down at my bruised and bloodied knuckles as I thought about the scrap I had had the afternoon before, there were people in this home who had lost everything, people who were broken and lost, people that were holding on to the hope of finding some sort of salvation. I realized that Hershel had saved a little boys life in exchange for his own son's life. The family down stairs in that front room were the only one that was still unbroken and very much a solid unit. There was a murder in the front room who I could bet my very life on was blaming himself for the sacrifice of Patricia. A worried sister and friend in the upstairs room, and a group of homeless ragtag travelers from all over the place. A girl who had shot her sister, a man that had lost his family and was looking after that girl, a father trying to protect his only living daughter and hiding his only other child that was a rancid, putrified version of her former self. A man grappling with killing another to save a boy he all but considered his son, and a mother that had all but lost her small child in the woods. The two down stairs were lost and trying to find some sort of place in a world gone completely wrong. Then there was him. My crossbow slinging, life saving, southern speaking hunter. The man that made me feel a hundred different things at once. He was on a mission, trying to find something or someone, but whatever it was he was looking for, he made me feel alive again, made me feel safe and protected.

I rested my head in my hands and closed my eyes. Me. There was me in amongst this group. I'd shot my brother, had an absent father and skipped town on my mother and brother as soon as I was old enough. I felt like I had to have my shit together otherwise I would lose it completely and those around me would suffer. I looked down and the rifle by my side and narrowed my eyes. I was just as much responsible for the survival of these people, just as much responsible for the two out there in the woods possibly dead possibly still running around. I grabbed my rifle. It was either I found them, or we all fell apart wondering what happened and whether they were okay. This whole place was in shambles, lives were depending on the actions of a few try hard survivors, it was now or never.

I grabbed the rifle and without a single word I walked down the stairs to the door, busted one of the boards in half using the end of the nail gun and headed out into the open fields. There was just enough bullets in that gun to keep a few of those things at bay. It was the only chance they had to still be alive. I kept walking, my mind was made up, I had a duty to Patricia and Billy, I should have stopped them the night before. I should have done more. I heard yelling coming from behind me but kept walking. Even if it came down to me having to put one in their brains, at least we could all sleep easy knowing that they weren't alive and struggling to stay that way.


	10. Heart Beat

Authors note: As per usual, I have no rights to any of these characters or the plot lines. This is all my own concepts and creations, if it coincides with the tv series or the comic books, it is a matter of coincidence. A little note about Alice, her past is not my past, but her values etc are loosely based on myself. One final thing, the next few chapters are going to get a little graphic ;) if ya catch my drift. If you're not into it please don't read it, I'm a little nervous writing this kinda stuff cause I've never done it before so please, be gentle with the criticisms :) enjoy!

**CHAPTER 10**

I made it to the tree line across the paddock and out of sight of the house when I felt someone grab my arm. I turned instantly, flicking their hand away and held up my rifle.

"Cool it would ya?" Daryl was staring at me looking incredibly annoyed, his crossbow strapped across his back.

"What're ya doin' here?" I said lowering the gun and breathing a sigh of relief.

"The question is what the hell d'ya think ya doin' walkin' out here alone! After a night like last night these whole dang woods could be swarmin' with them things! Takin' that dang rifle as well, y'aint that stupid I know ya ain't!" he seemed a whole lot more worked about this than was really needed.

"So?" I said with a shrug.

"So! Ya could get eaten out here! Ya fire one shot outta that weapon and y'open the gates to Satan's lair!" he took a step closer to me, once more leaning over the top of me.

"What's ya point?" I was getting just as annoyed by this, he was wasting my search time.

"My point is I don't want ya out there!" he pointed out into the woods angrily.

"Ya wastin' my time old man! I gotta find them people! Who knows if they're alive or not and ya wasting my day light!" I growled at him narrowing my eyebrows angrily.

"I don't give a shit about them!" he spat letting his arm drop.

"Then why ya here?" I said putting my arm through the rifle strap and letting it drop by my side.

"Cause I care about ya! I don't even know them and neither d'ya!" he was still angry.

"So what? I'm being a..." I didn't get to finish my sentence because his hands were resting lightly on either side of my neck and his lips were pressed firmly against my own. I protested for about point one of a second before reciprocating back, my hands sliding around his lower back as he nipped at the bottom of my lip and coaxed my tongue into his mouth.

I knew we should be looking for the others but I had been waiting for this to happen again since the second we had stopped kissing the first time. His hands trailed down my back, lifting slightly as he passed over my ribs. I delved my tongue playfully into his mouth as his hands rests on my hips and pulled me closer to him. I gasped slightly as he pressed against me, I couldn't help but smirk and lift my eyes to look at him.

"Looks like you're a little more excited about this than I thought," I whispered kissing his neck and nipping at his skin lightly. He growled a little and gripped my hips pressing his hips into mine a little harder. I dragged my nails across his lower back around to his hips and scratched lightly at the tight, toned skin above his jeans. He let out a moan of pleasure as he lifted my chin with his right hand and pressed his lips to mine again, this time harder than before his tongue swimming inside of my mouth as he breathed heavier. I slipped my fingertips into the top of his jeans and arched my back up so my chest was pressed against his. He reacted exactly as I had wanted him to, he bent his knees slightly, trailed his hands down to the top part of my thighs and lifted me up so I could wrap my legs around his waist. He held my there tightly as I broke the kiss and bit down on his neck gently, eliciting a groan from him. His whole body felt like it was on fire, every muscle in it was tense and electrified with desire. I kissed a trail back up to his mouth as I wrapped my arms around his neck and slid forwards a little more so I could wrap my legs around his waist a little tighter. He moaned softly and tilted his head back before I could connect my lips with his.

"We ain't gonna do this out here," he breathed looking into my eyes.

"Where ya wanna do it then? We should be out lookin' anyhow," I said staring back into those dark, electric, lust filled blue eyes.

"Shane and Dale went out lookin' for em as well not long after ya left," he squeezed his hands a little tighter on my thighs and I bit my lip a little in reaction. God I would tear those clothes off right here and have my way with him if he'd let me.

"What do ya suppose we do then?" I whispered, trying as hard as I could to keep my breathing even, my forearms resting lightly on his shoulders.

"I think," he let his hands fall away from my body as I unwrapped my legs and let my tippy toes touch the ground, "we go back to the house, tell the others that ya couldn't sleep last night and ya eye was hurtin' like crazy and ya need to rest, then I'll take ya up into the spare bedroom upstairs and..." he nipped my neck slightly and I closed my eyes to stop myself from groaning.

"Or," I whispered unbuttoning the top button of his shirt so I could plant a kiss on his chest, "we go and look a little more for Patricia and Billy, then we can head back and ya can do everythin' to me that ya been dreamin' about," I kissed his chest again.

"Why ya wanna find these people so much?" he grumbled.

"It's the right thing to do," I said tugging lightly on the bottom of his shirt.

"Ya killin' me here," he said adjusting his jeans and giving me a pretend annoyed look.

"Just come with me," I put particular emphasis on the 'come' as I stood up on my toes and nipped his ear a little.

"Oh ya just wait, I'll do a darn sight more than just that," he said digging his nails into my hips. I laughed lightly and grabbed his hand then turned around and started back along the trail I was walking before.

We searched the woods around the house for an hour but came up with nothing. There were a few traces of blood and some broken branches about the place but we came up with little more than that. We headed back to the house and within two hours were walking back up the steps and into the kitchen.

"Anything?" Maggie was standing in the kitchen holding an empty glass in one hand, a distressed look all over her face. I gave her a sorrowful look and shook my head.

"I'm sorry Maggie," I said gently.

"Why'd you come back so soon?" Hershel said walking in from the front room.

"Her eye's been playin' up and both of us were up all night," Daryl said standing behind me.

"So?" Maggie asked abruptly.

"So we ain't functioning right and we can't track anyone if all we can focus on is sleepin'," Daryl snapped back. She bit her lip a little and nodded.

"We'll see what Shane and Dale come up with later, they'll make their way back here regardless, Billy knows the way back," Hershel said resting a reassuring hand on his daughters shoulder. I nodded in response and set the rifle I was holding down by the door.

"Do ya mind terribly if I use one of the bedrooms and try and get a bit of sleep," I asked Hershel gently after a moments pause.

"Go ahead, there should be some bandages and some creams and stuff up there if ya want to change ya dressin's," he said offering me a nod towards the stair case.

"Thank ya," I said politely returning the nod and heading up the stairs.

I wandered up the stairs and into the free room at the end of the corridor. Sophia was in one room with Carol and Shane had collapsed onto the bed in the other little room to the left of me. I slid my boots off and walked over to the little dressing table and looked at myself in the mirror. The whole upper left side of my face was turning a deep reddish purple color, there were a few bulging blood shot veins in my eye as well. I ran my thumb gently over my cheekbone and winced slightly at the pain.

"For a little blonde gal she ain't got a half bad right hook," Daryl was leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded watching me intently.

"She's pretty good at it," I said turning to face him with a slight smile on my face.

"Well, she ended up a little worse off than y'did I think," he said stepping forwards and clicking the door shut softly behind him.

"I dunno, I got a cracked rib that probably says otherwise," I laughed lightly.

"Wasn't that cracked before?" he said walking towards where I was standing and resting his hand gently on my ribs. I winced a little and nodded.

"Then she can't say that was her," he said trailing his fingertips down to my hip.

"Well, I guess that's a fair point," I whispered. Looking down at his hand on my hip, "ya right there?" I said looking up at him with a cheeky smile.

"Oh I'm totally fine, I quite like this little part of ya," he whispered stepping closer to me.

"Oh do ya now?" I whispered back, running my fingertip down over the middle of his buttoned up, sleeveless top. He raised his eyebrow a little and smirked at me. He let his hand trail lower down to the top of my jeans and along until he gripped my belt buckle a little.

"I have to admit, I think there's probably more to ya that I'd like," he whispered tugging at the buckle a little. I bit my lip and pressed my body against his a little then rose up onto my toes so my lips were right against his ear.

"How about, ya start by showin' me the bits ya like," I whispered, nipping at his earlobe gently. He let out a soft groan and wrapped his arms around my waist. I dropped back down onto my feet and pushed him away.

"C'mon then," I smirked ducking passed him and making my way to the bed.

"Nuh uh," he said grabbing my forearm lightly and turning to face me. I smiled my best seductive smile as he pulled me back to him and kissed me deeply.

Every nerve ending in my body all of a sudden stood completely alert. His tongue slid over mine softly as he pressed his hips against mine roughly. I let out a soft whimper as I felt his hips connect with mine. I nipped his bottom lip as his hands traced down my back lifting my tank top up exposing the flesh on my lower stomach.

"How about I start here," he whispered against my lips as he undid my belt buckle and tugged at the button on my jeans.

"I think that's a perfect place," I mumbled, my eyes still closed. His voice was so husky and rough I could almost hear the lust in his speech. He un-looped my belt from my jeans and threw it onto the table behind me. His fingers traced their way back up to the bottom of my tank top and began lifting it up over my stomach and over the black and red bra I was hiding underneath the thin layer of cotton. He yanked my top off and discarded it on the floor next to us.

"Now why the hell d'ya wear somethin' like that in a zombie infested wasteland like this," he whispered looking down at the lace that was holding my bust in place.

"A gal's gotta feel a little sexy sometimes," I whispered sliding my fingers up to the buttons on his shirt and undoing them one at a time and sliding it off over his toned shoulders. I bit my bottom lip a little and smiled, he was just as muscular and sexy as I had imagined.

"Ya definitely don't need these to be sexy then," he whispered as he unclipped the back of my bra and let it drop noiselessly to the floor. I dragged my fingernails down his chest and stopped at the top of his jeans. I looked up at his eyes and ran my fingertips across the top of his jeans. His whole body shuddered as I tickled his skin and he arched his back.

"Damn gal," he whispered.

"Seems like someone has a sensitive spot," I whimpered sliding down to my knees, kissing a trail down his stomach and stopping just bellow his belly button. I paused for a moment before running the tip of my tongue across his toned abs.

"Fffffuuuu," he shivered a little and let out a low growl. I retracted my tongue and looked up at him with a smirk.

"Fuck this," he growled at me grabbing my hands and pulling me up. He grabbed me around my waist and picked me up off the floor and walked the few steps onto the bed and dropped me onto it. He started biting down my neck slowly, across my collarbone and down over each of my breasts. I gasped in ecstasy and arched my back up against his mouth. He placed his hand on my stomach lightly and forced my body back onto the bed. I run my fingers down through his hair and gripped it tightly in my right hand.

"Now this I definitely like," he whispered, planting kisses on each of the little paw print tattoos that followed the curve of my hip. I shivered in response and ran my fingers through his hair.

Within a few moments he had unbuttoned my jeans and thrown them across the end of the bed absently. He paused for a moment and looked me in the eye.

"Ya sure ya wanna do this?" he said gently his fingertips resting on my hips lightly, "I ain't gonna force ya to do anything' ya don't wanna do," he added.

"Baby," I let my right hand rest on his cheek lightly and smiled, "if I didn't want ya doin' this, ya wouldn't be doin' it," it seemed that was all the encouragement that he needed. He all but tore my panties off as he kissed a trail down over my stomach and gently flicked the tip of his tongue against me. I gasped in response and bit my lip to stop from groaning. He smirked up at me momentarily then delved his tongue roughly inside of me. It took all of my strength not to cry out in pure ecstasy right there. He kept going, reading my body language almost instinctively as I arched back against him. Before I knew it I had my right hand tightly entangled in his hair, my left gripping the sheets as my body shivered in pure, uncontrollable passion. I gasped as he moved away from me and folded his arms over my stomach lightly. I let my hand drop away from his hair and tried to steady my breathing.

"How's that for showin' ya what I like?" he smirked. I moaned in response and dragged my fingers down over his collarbone.

"Your turn," I growled, my voice husky with desire. He raised his eyebrow and smirked at me as I pushed him onto his back, quickly pulled off his jeans and kissed him deeply. I straddled him, my knees sitting on either side of his hip bones as I kissed him as passionately as I could manage. I gripped the hair on the sides of his head lightly as I slithered my tongue into his mouth, he moaned in response and gripped my hips pushing me back slightly.

"Ya want me?" I mocked letting my lips hover inches from him.

"Ya got no idea," he groaned softly. I turned and looked down at his toned abs, down over his hips and set my eyes on exactly what I wanted to see.

"Oh I think I have a fair idea," I whispered biting onto his lower lip gently. He swallowed hard as I slid back, my body pulsating with what I can only describe as pure, animalistic desire. He gripped my hips tightly and pulled me down onto him. I gasped loudly as he entered me.

"Oh my..." he pushed himself up into a standing positing holding me onto him, his hands gripping my thighs tightly.

"Now, I think we were about here earlier on," he smirked as he slammed my back against the wall and started a slow, torturous rhythm.

"I..." I was rendered silent as he pressed his mouth to mine roughly. Using the wall behind me as a brace he began to move rhythmically with me. I wrapped my legs around his waist pushing him deeper inside of me. My fingernails digging into his shoulders as he started to move faster.

"Daryl!" I moaned as quietly as I could manage. I had to bite down onto his shoulder to stop myself from calling out loudly. He moaned in response and quickened the pace. It didn't take long at all before my whole body was buzzing, pulsating with the wave if sheer ecstasy that was overcoming my body.

"Daryl, Daryl," I gasped as I arched against him.

"Oh fuck!" he dug his fingernails into my thighs as his body gave way to the explosion of passion that overtook his body.

He held me to him tightly as our bodies convulsed with the onslaught of pleasure that rippled through both of us. I let my forehead rest against his shoulder and hugged him tightly as he leaned into me, letting the wall and my body support him where he stood. We stayed there for a while before he finally turned around and gently dropped me down onto the bed. I unwrapped myself from him and lay there for a split second before suddenly become very aware and incredibly self conscious of my exposed skin.

"Don't," he linked his fingers with mine stopping me from pulling the sheet over my body.

"I," I got a little embarrassed and shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"Don't even try and act like ya ain't as beautiful as y'are," he kissed the back of my hand lightly and looked me in the eye, his beautiful baby blues full of content and desire. I smiled and squeezed his hand lightly.

"C'm'here," I whispered pulling him closer to me, "ya too far away, I can't hear ya heart beat."


	11. Some place new

Authors note: I have no rights or ownership over any of the walking dead characters or plot lines, this story was intended to be an alternative to season two. Alice is my own character and is based loosely around myself. Her history is not my own history though other aspects of her ethics etc are based around my own. Criticism is always welcome and much appreciated. If you want you can follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy! Peace. X

**CHAPTER ELEVEN **

I woke with a start, the room was dark save for a trickle of moonlight leaking in through the half open curtains. I rolled over to my side expecting to see Daryl sleeping peacefully next to me. To my surprise I was met with nothing more than an empty bed and a ruffle of sheets. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked around the room, he was no where to be seen. Charming, uses me then slips out before I woke up. I ruffled my hair a little trying to stop myself from crying then slipped out from under the covers and found my clothes from across the room and pulled them on. I clipped my bra up and caught a glimpse of my ribs in the mirror. I paused for a second then walked over to the mirror and took a closer look at the bruises. My tattoo on my ribs was practically invisible underneath the blackened skin. I sighed loudly then pulled my tank top on over my head and, shoving my cowboy boots on, headed down stairs. I stopped just around the corner of the stairs as I heard angry voices coming from the kitchen below me. I quietly sat down on the step I was standing on and listened to the conversation.

"I sympathize with ya Rick, I do, but I ain't got the resources or the place for ya to be here as a permanent thing," Hershel. What the hell was he saying,

"Ya tellin' me we have to pack up and leave?" Rick sounded just as disbelieving as I was.

"Ya found that little girl, ya boy's startin' to look better, as soon as he's stable enough to travel I expect ya to be gone," his tone sounded very final.

"We can hunt, we can look after ourselves, we wouldn't use any of ya resources, we could help ya protect the land. Build ya a fence, keep ya safe," I rested my elbows on my knees and listened a little closer.

"I appreciate what ya sayin' Rick, but I don't need them things, I need to keep the resources I have for my own people, I can't be sharin' the towns supplies and the like with a group as big as yours," time to interrupt. I stood up from my little perch and clunked my way down the remaining stairs. They both looked up at me standing on the little platform, Rick looked worn out and stressed, Hershel just looked blank.

"What time is it?" I asked walking down the last few stairs and coming over to stand in between them a little.

"Just passed one am," Rick said tearing his eyes away from Hershel and looking at me.

"Y'should get some sleep," I said gently to him, stuffing my hands into my back pockets.

"I'm meant to be on lookout till mornin'," he replied wearily.

"Don't worry 'bout it," I said shaking my head a little, "I'll cover ya. Go see ya boy," I tilted my head a little towards the other room. Rick looked between the two of us then with a resigned nod he headed off, mouthing 'thank you' to me as he passed. I waited until I heard the door click shut before I turned to Hershel and started the questioning.

"Don't say nothin'," he said leaning against the kitchen bench.

"Fine, just know, if ya throw them out, I'm goin' too," I said grabbing my crossbow from by the stairs.

"Y'always have a place here, y'always did, Maggie appreciates ya bein' here, especially now since Billy and Patricia are gone," so Shane and Dale had found them then.

"I'm sorry t'hear that," I said simply before walking out of the kitchen door, which had been fixed back onto its hinges and properly secured, and onto the porch.

Shane was leaning against the wall, his rifle clutched tightly to his chest when I rounded the corner.

"I take it ya got the next watch?" he said turning his head to face me. I nodded at him slightly.

"Daryl went out to the RV," he said looking down at the floor then back up at me.

"How're ya dealin'?" I asked. The RV comment hadn't gone unnoticed but then again, I wished it had. He scoffed a little and kicked his boot against the floorboard a little.

"It's hard, y'have to," he paused and sighed loudly, "y'have to almost block it out, find some way to make it alright," he gripped the rifle in his hand a little tighter.

"Y'did what ya had to do to keep that little boy alive, I don't know what kinda hell it is ya draggin' yaself through, but I think ya need to remember that that little boy in there is alive because of what ya did. That definitely ain't nothin'," and with a final nod and a completely lost and helpless look, he walked passed me and headed into the house. I leaned back against the wall where Shane had been standing and stared out over the pitch black night. Daryl was in that RV. He'd purposefully gotten up out of bed, gotten dressed and snuck out of the room with the intention of leaving me there alone. I took a deep inhale of the fresh night air and slowly let it out.

"Shouldn't have done it," I whispered to myself softly.

"Done what?" I jumped at the question and looked around. There was no one on the porch. I walked over to the handrail and looked over the edge. T-Dog was sitting with his back against the bottom of the porch his legs outstretched in front of him.

"What're ya doin' down there?" I asked peering over the edge and raising my eyebrow a little at him.

"Gettin' some air," he said simply, raising his eyes to meet my gaze. I smiled at him a little then, letting my crossbow hang across my back hurtled over the edge of the handrail and landed with a soft thud on the ground next to him.

"So, what is it ya shouldn't have done?" he asked after I had taken a seat next to him.

"Gotten involved," I said with a soft laugh.

"With the hunter boy?" I went completely silent and looked at him closely.

"How'd ya..."

"Please," he cut me off, "it's almost as obvious as a gun to the face that ya keen on the guy," he gave me an easy smile. I was walking into unfamiliar territory here, I didn't usually have people showing interest in my personal life and after what Daryl had done, I wasn't too fond of the idea of letting someone else in.

"We just like the same stuff," I said simply, "besides, he used me for what he wanted and that's that." I tried my best to sound indifferent, though I doubted it had worked.

"And what's that? Huntin'?"

"Exactly," I said with a light laugh.

"He's a good guy," T-Dog's voice was low. I swallowed hard and drew my legs up a little shifting my crossbow from around my back to sit in my lap.

"He saved me twice, made sure my ass was safe from them walkers, even though I dropped the key to his brothers handcuffs down a drain by accident which meant he got left on a rooftop to die," my eyes went wide as I turned to face him.

"His brother?" I questioned.

"Yeah, Merle. He's the other Dixon, he was a crazy racist asshole, but his brother is a good guy," he turned to face me. I pursed my lips a little in thought and decided to leave it at that. Questioning things, in my experience, made it a whole lot worse than it was.

He stood up after a while and with a 'night'. He wandered off to the tent that was set up outside. I sat there for a while staring at my cowboy boots. I was glad I had decided to bring them and my bike boots along, they were the most comfortable shoes I owned, and in a world going to shit like it was, comfortable was a luxury. I pushed myself up off the ground and walked around the perimeter of the house searching the open fields for any sign of life or movement. Luckily for me there was nothing, unluckily though, it gave me way too much time to mull everything over with Daryl. I kicked a rock absently as I came to the conclusion that sleeping with him was possibly the worst choice I could have made. He'd gotten up and left me there, whatever excuse it was that he could come up with, couldn't possibly be good enough to merit that sort of an action.

"Hey," I turned to see Maggie sitting on the rail of the porch, her legs dangling down just above one of the rose bushes near the house.

"Hey," I walked over and stood in front of the rose bush and looked up at her, "can't sleep?"

"Dad told me ya know about the shed," she was staring intently at something in her hand turning it over and over again.

"Yeah," I studied her face a little.

"I can't keep doin' it," her eyes had gone all glassy.

"Doin' what?" I asked walking up the steps and standing a few feet away from her.

"Everything," she let out a sigh, "I don't wanna keep goin' down there and feedin' her rabbits and squirrels every few days, it's killin' me, but now with Billy gone, Dad definitely won't let her go," her voice was quivering something chronic, it wasn't hard to tell that she was choking back tears.

"I don't know what to tell ya, I don't," I said softly playing with my crossbow a little.

"It's not y'problem. Ya don't need to say anythin'," she forced a smile at me then went back to staring at whatever it was in her hands. I stayed there with her for a while longer before finally deciding to go and check out the other side of the house.

I stood there over looking the empty paddocks for a while. I was just starting to wonder who and when I was going to change hands when I heard footsteps behind me.

"Y'can go get some sleep if ya want," I pursed my lips together at the heavy southern drawl and rested my hands on the hand rail, leaning forwards a little.

"Did y'hear me?" his boots clunked on the wooden decking as he walked over to me.

"Yeah, I hear ya," I pushed away from the handrail and made my way to walk passed him. He held his arm out and grabbed my lightly around the waist stopping me from walking passed.

"Let go," I growled stopping dead.

"What's up with ya?" he was glaring at me but kept his hand where it was.

"Let go!" I said a little more forcefully.

"Not till y'tell me what ya problem is," he quipped back. I let out a loud sigh, the slid the hand gun I had against my thigh out of it's sheath and held it to his temple, staring him directly in the eyes. His face went completely blank and he matched my gaze.

"Let... Go," I repeated more deliberately. He seemed to be almost contemplating what he wanted to do when I snapped the safety off of the gun and narrowed my eyes a little at him.

"Fine," he grunted letting his hand drop and stepping to the side a little. I held his gaze for a moment longer before clicking the safety back on and stuffing it back into the holster. With that I headed back inside and collapsed onto the couch in the main room. I lay there staring at the ceiling for a while before eventually drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

When I awoke the house was completely silent, there was a fraction of light trickling in through the cracks in the windows illuminating the entire room giving it a hazy glow. I sat there for a moment contemplating what I was going to when I finally lifted myself out of the chair and grabbed my crossbow. I slipped silently out of the door and made my way out into the paddocks. I glanced back at the house to see T-Dog standing guard, he gave me a slight nod and them turned and looked the other way. I bit the inside of my lip a little and headed out into the woods. If Hershel wanted us to leave, then we would leave and I had the perfect place for us to go.


	12. Riverside view

**CHAPTER 12**

I walked for a long time through the woods, I knew exactly where I was going, which was part of the reason why I had strapped both of my thighs with my hand guns and attached my knife to my boot. That was one thing I had learned from my childhood, if you're ever traveling long distances make sure you have enough ammunition and hand to hand combat weapons if all else fails. Guess my old man was good for something. I made it down to the little river that ran through the middle of the wood and started following alongside it, my crossbow at the ready in my hand. I'd walked for about an hour when I heard a rustling in the shrubs across the other side of the stream. I adjusted my grip on the crossbow and kept walking as quietly as I could. The rustling was following me, I tried to pay it no attention while trying to catch a glimpse at whatever it was making the noise. It couldn't have been a walker because I'd have already turned into chum by then. Or more, it would have turned into brain soup by that point. I kept my head down for a while longer, concentrating on the water trickling passed me until a single arrow flew passed my head, exploding with a splash off red into the middle of a walkers head off to my right and lodging itself there as the walker collapsed to the ground. I stopped dead, looked over to the other side of the stream then walked over to the disgusting corpse, held my foot on its head and yanked the bolt free.

"This belong to ya?" I loaded the arrow into my weapon and shot it at the tree across from me, it landed in the bark with a dull thud right next to Daryl's head. He didn't even flinch as the arrow stuck into tree next to his head. Without so much as a blink he reached up, grabbed the arrow by the tail and yanked it out of its position.

"Where ya goin'?" he said walking parallel to me as I started moving.

"None o' ya dang business," I remarked kicking a stone as I passed.

"Now what the hell is wrong with ya?" he growled at me, still matching my walk on the other side of the little stream.

"Oh I dunno, lemme think on that for a second," I stopped, turned to face him and held my hand to my mouth in a mock thoughtful way, "oh yeah, that's right _ya__did__the__old__nail__and__bail_!" I half shouted at him then continued on walking.

"Now hold up a minute, it weren't like that," he jogged a few steps to catch up to me.

"Oh please, don't even try and play that card with me, I know ya weren't doin' anythin' other than goin' out to sleep in that dang RV," I scoffed.

"Would ya wait a second," I heard a light splashing as he trudged across the small stream to come and walk next to me.

"Wait a second for what? For what Daryl? I been dealin' with jackasses like ya my whole life. Absent fathers, abusive boyfriends, makeshift father figures that'd bang my mom then come and try it on with me. Believe me, I know ya kind! Ya got what ya wanted and then ya got out," I kept my eyes forwards and didn't once look over at him.

"It weren't like that," he did a slight quick step and stopped in front of me.

"Move," I stopped instantly and focused my eyes straight forwards at a spot just over his shoulder.

"Not till ya listen," he said trying to make me look at him.

"To what?" I sighed.

"To my side of it," he replied.

"Get it through that thick skull, I ain't interested and I don't care no more," I took a step to the side which he matched. I glared at him for a moment then side stepped him easily, same as my coach had taught me to do in basketball before I left for Boston.

"Get lost Daryl, go hunt or screw Andrea, I don't care, just leave me out of it," I called over my shoulder. He didn't respond to that one, though he did stay a few steps behind me from then on and didn't make any more comments to me about anything. I walked for a long time, sticking close to the stream when I finally saw it. I stopped where I was and waited until Daryl stopped next to me.

"Thats where we're gonna hole up if y'all want to," I said looking over my shoulder slightly.

"Y'sure there ain't no one in there?" he said simply.

"Let's go make sure," I said heading up the little embankment and towards the back door of the house.

I walked ahead of him a few steps, my crossbow up at the ready in front of me. The whole place looked like it hadn't been touched since before this whole mess had started. I traced around the outside of the old two story place, carefully peering inside through the boarded up windows. It seemed to be completely desolate inside, save for a few ruffled sheets on the floor. I stared at the floor inside for a moment before continuing on around to the back door.

"Y'sure there ain't no one been livin' here?" Daryl's voice rang out, cutting through the silence. I wandered over to where he was standing in front of the old wooden door.

"I told ya there..." I cut myself short as I heard a click behind me, that distinctive clicking of a gun being loaded. Daryl and I turned and aimed our crossbows up at exactly the same moment. I held it as steady as I could, my sights trained right on the body of the man standing at the edge of the clearing across from us.

"Is it movin'?" Daryl's voice was low and barely above a whisper.

"Shut it," I whispered back.

"Is there some kinda reason y'all are standin' in the doorway to my house?" the mans voice was harsh and his accent was a strange mixture of southern and something else.

"It ain't ya house," I called back after a second. He lowered his gun a little, almost like he was faltering for a moment.

"It is my house, I own part of the place," he said.

"Ya can't own part of that house 'cause it ain't been for sale in a dang long time," I growled back stepping down off of the step and walking closer to where he was standing. He took a few steps towards me, his eyes narrowed, a puzzled yet completely calm look on his face. I let my crossbow down so I could look at him closer. He wasn't a big kind of guy, he was only a few inches taller than me if that. He was well built, though he looked weathered and a little tired though I guess in a world like the one we were living in everybody probably looked weathered and tired. He wore a plain black t-shirt, dark denim jeans and a pair of black cowboy boots with quite harsh looking spikes on the front and back. Looks like if he had to kick someone, or more something, he'd be kicking to kill. I shifted a little under his gaze studying him closer. There was something about him that I couldn't quite place, some sort of strange quality that made me uneasy. Maybe it was the fact he was staring at me like I was death or something.

"What the hell are ya starin' at old man?" Daryl came to stand next to me, lowering his crossbow as well. I gave him a scowl and turned back to the old guy, after all he was still claiming that he was a part owner of a house my mother had left to my brother and I.

"Allie," his voice was barely a whisper that I wasn't quite sure I had heard what I thought I'd heard.

"What did ya just say?" I stammered.

"Allie," he repeated taking a few steps forwards again, I instinctively took a step back and clutched my crossbow a little tighter.

"Who the shit is Allie?" Daryl said looking from me to the old man in front of us.

"Allie is..." I blinked a few times and tried to tear my eyes away from the man in front of us.

"Allie is my oldest daughter," he replied giving me a half smile.

"Oh hell no! Ya don't get to call me that no more!" I raised my crossbow again angrily, my hands shaking visibly this time around.

"What the hell is goin' on?" Daryl spat looking at me.

"Y'ain't been here old man! Ya weren't there! Ya left us! Ya left us alone to try and fend for ourselves!" I couldn't help but scream at him my hands shaking like crazy. He was standing so still that for a split second I thought he may have been a figment of my imagination.

"Daddy?" my whole body tensed as the sweet, little voice rang out from the doorway behind us.

"Go inside baby doll," he held his hand up and smiled at the little girl behind us. I kept my crossbow trained on the man before me and crooned my head around a little to see a small girl standing in the doorway, her little blue dress was sullied and stained and her shoes were dirtied by sand and mud.

"But Daddy, we're hungry," she said softly, her eyes trailing up to where Daryl and I were standing.

"We?" I turned my head back to look at him angrily.

"Yeah," he raised his hand to the back of his head and took a deep inhale, then slowly let it out and stared at me for a long moment, his expression was contorted between sadness and confusion.

"There's a lot we have to talk about kiddo," he said simply.


	13. Click

Authors note: I have no rights to any if the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. As always criticsm is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!

**CHAPTER 13**

"Ya best start talkin' old man or someone is gonna go down," my voice was distant even to myself. I had my lips pursed trying to stop myself from yelling or crying or both. My crossbow was aimed shakily at his heart, my hands were trembling like mad. This whole situation was not exactly how I had pictured the reunion with my father.

"Ya gotta understand kiddo, I left ya for a reason," he had his arms out to the sides in a very submissive way.

"What the HELL kinda reason did ya have for leavin' ya two young children!" I was shaking even worse, all those years I spent trying to keep my family above water was all of a sudden being written off because he had a reason for leaving. Like it was a justification for the life that he forced us into it.

"Hear me out," he took a step forwards his hands still out to his sides. I matched his step and shoved my crossbow forwards a little. He stopped and met my gaze for a long time.

"What the HELL do ya think ya doin' holdin' that thing to my Daddy's head?" I turned around to see another young girl come storming out of the house behind us shove passed me and come to stand directly between the two of us.

"Who the fuck are ya?" I questioned the grip on my crossbow as tight as ever.

"I'm his daughter, who the fuck are ya?" she was a tiny little thing, rough around the edges, her hair was a matted mess of brown and blonde. She looked like the stereotypical snobby little school girl that thought she was all that.

"His daughter huh? How old are ya?" I growled.

"I just turned fourteen," she said cocking her eyebrow and folding her arms in a smarmy way.

"Oh did ya now?" I looked at my biological father and raised my eyebrow, "that's interesting, considering Danny was only sixteen," I made damn sure he heard the last part of that.

"Who the hell is Danny and what the fuck does it have to do with my Dad?" she was a fiery one.

"Anna-Bell watch ya mouth baby doll, but she's got a point, what does it have to do with my husband?" I faltered completely, dropping my crossbow down to my side, my mouth fell open slightly as the woman walked up the slight embankment and came to stand next to the other two. She was stunning, a thin, sexy, leggy blonde lady with the epitome of a perfect body. She had long curly blonde hair that cascaded down her back, her clothes were grubby and yet they sat almost perfectly on her, she wore skinny leg black jeans, white cowboy boots and a floaty white and pink shirt that showed off her back. Not exactly practical, but then again everything about her screamed bitch.

I looked from her to the other two and back at her. Daryl seemed just as shell shocked as I was, though he seemed more like his tongue was hanging out like a lost puppy dog. I swear the impression he's giving me was nothing more than the fact he'd go anything that walked, breathed and had female bits. I stared at the trio in front of me, just as I was starting to calm myself down and stop the vibrations surging through my body the little girl standing on the porch ran over to the woman followed by another two young boys, one looked no older than about six, the other looked around twelve.

"What the fuck is this?" I needed answers and I needed them now, otherwise there would be some serious shit going down, I was barely holding it together as it was.

"Excuse me young lady but I seriously don't think ya have any right to be usin' that kinda language around a family that ya haven't ever even met before," the lady said picking up her son and kissing him on the cheek lightly.

"I'm sorry, did ya just say I've never met any of ya before?" I raised my eyebrows and turned my head to the right a little, almost as if leaning my left ear forwards more I would hear her better. I watched his reaction, he shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other and was holding his left hand over his mouth. So Daddy dearest hadn't told his new family that he had an old family. This is going to be fun.

"Ya heard me," her daughter hugged onto her leg and looked at me, a scared look on her face. "I said ya haven't met any of us and we shouldn't have to deal with such fowl language," she placed her arm around her youngest daughters shoulders and glared at me.

"Well, that sure is interestin'," I looked at the family before me and shook my head. What a pig.

"And why is it so interestin' to ya?" the older boy pipped up giving me an extremely sarcastic look.

"'Cause this little family, this cute little thing ya got goin' here, ain't the first family he's ever had," I nodded towards the man in front of me.

"What're ya sayin'?" Anna-Bell asked instantly.

"It means ya ain't Daddy's little angle darlin'. In fact, ya second, neigh, third child to this chauvinistic, sick fuck," I placed particular emphasis on the last word and deliberately look at the older lady standing next to him.

"What?" she looked at the man next to her, "David, what is she sayin'?" her voice quavered a little when she asked. Everyone's eyes were on him. Looks like his perfect little world was about to come crashing down around him.

"Is it true?" Anna-Bell took a step away from him, a disgusted look on her face.

"Oh ya better believe it's true, and my baby brother," I walked towards her as her head snapped to face me directly, "Danny, was only a few years older than ya. Turns out, when he was shacking up with ya Momma over there, he was raising a family in another state," I came to stand a few feet in front of her. Her eyes narrowed, I knew exactly what she was going to do, probably even before she did. As her hand came up to try and connect with the side of my face I grabbed her wrist, spun her arm behind her back and dropped her to the floor.

"Let her go!" I heard her little brother yell from his mothers arms. I bent down closer to her, her eyes were filled to the brim with cold, clear tears.

"Look," I whispered, "it sucks, believe me, I know. Just be happy he was here for the whole of ya childhood, and he didn't just walk out and leave ya with an alcoholic mother that slept with anything that walked her way for easy cash and a baby brother that needed a male role model more than a sister," I felt her whole body relax as I let her go and stood up. I could feel my own eyes getting slightly watery as well though I ignored it completely and turned back to the family standing before me.

There was this long silence that fell across everyone, it seemed no one was really sure as to how to deal with this whole entire situation. I guess it's something that you wouldn't really expect, especially when the world as we all know it was going to the dogs and infested with corpses.

"I think ya need to leave," David's wife said giving me a warning stare.

"I don't think so," it was the first time Daryl had spoken since this whole mess had come about.

"What did ya say?" David glared at Daryl.

"It ain't ya house old man, it was left to her and her brother," he said angrily. Seems my boy here can be protective when he wants to be, or maybe it was just the fact that he had a place to stay if we got these guys out of the house.

"I brought the damn place though ya dumb hick," oh good. Seems I got my flare from my father, sadly.

"I ain't no hick and unless ya got somethin' better than that damn hand gun in ya pocket to argue the matter, I suggest ya get ya shit and move on," he tapped the edge of his crossbow and raised his eyebrows in a competitive way.

"It's my house, and ya on my property, so I think it's time ya both leave," he was seriously pushing it.

"When were ya ever here?" I've had enough of his bullshit.

"I beg ya pardon?" of course his wife would protect him.

"Ya have no right to speak so shut it!" I yelled, pointing my crossbow angrily at her making her hug her son to her chest a little closer.

"When were ya here? Huh? When the fuck were ya here for ya kids? Huh? Ya left us! Left us with a god damn drunken, slut of a mother who would fuck anything that had a dick and walked as long as they paid her so she could afford to buy more booze. Ya left ya two young children with a woman that played baseball with their heads! A woman that couldn't afford to pay the rent on one house so she started trafficking drugs to pay! Ya left me! Ya left me alone with a women that sold me! Sold my body, sold my services to any man that wanted a young thing to play with," I was shaking like mad, my crossbow was trained right in the middle of his forehead. Daryl's crossbow was hanging by his side, his eyes were wide and his whole body was rigid. Seems like he was about to find out more about me than he bargained for.

"I didn't..."

"No!" I cut him off. "Ya didn't give a shit! Ya left! Shacked up with some slag and had another four goddamn kids! Ya had a kid with another woman while ya were still married to my Mom! Why the fuck would ya need us anymore huh? Ya got ya perfect family that ya always dreamed of! What happened to Danny, ask me what happened to ya son, come on old man ask me what happened to Danny," I was shouting now. Everyone's eyes were on me, wide eyed and horrified.

"ASK ME!" I screamed. Daryl's eyes never left me.

"What happened to Danny?" he whispered.

"I had to put a bullet through his head, I had to kill my baby brother because he was a zombie, and guess what, before he was a zombie he was a meth addict, a drunk that got a girl pregnant and skipped out on her when she lost the baby, guess he took after his asshole father!" my whole body was shaking uncontrollably, tears were streaming down my face. I hated him, I'd hated him since the second he walked out of that house. He looked mortified, his family looked completely floored like they'd just been kicked to the curb.

"Ya were an absent father, a man that let his baby girl get raped, used, abused and then lied to a whole new group of people, ya don't deserve anything! Ya left us with a woman that tried to drown her only son in a boiling hot bath tub because she thought god told her to! She gave him third degree burns all over his body! He was ten years old! He hated ya! Ya first son hated ya! Ya first child hates ya! Ya not worth the ground ya stand on!" I lost it, everything went black. The last thing I remember hearing was the click of the trigger on my crossbow and the piercing screams that followed.


	14. Daddy's little girl

Authors note: I have no rights to any of the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. As always criticism is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!

ADDED NOTE: in response to a critic that told me to be more realistic about Alice's past. I will say this and only this. Her past is not entirely fiction, whilst it is not based on my history, it is based on that of an old acquaintance I once knew, do not be so quick to pass it off for creative just because it seems too horrific for reality. To quote Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas "sometimes truth is stranger than fiction".

As I teach all of my students at the beginning of every year: "The realm of fiction is only limited by the boundaries of your imagination."

**CHAPTER 14**

I couldn't breathe properly, I felt like the air was getting caught in the back of my throat, all I could do was gasp, frantically trying to get as much fresh oxygen into my lungs as humanly possible.

"Would ya wait a half second and talk to me!" I felt Daryl's hand on my arm pulling me back around to face him. As soon as i had clicked that trigger back it felt like everything had gone into slow motion. I watched the bolt fly out across the ground between us and lodge itself almost perfectly into his left thigh. I hadn't even given myself a chance to react before I turned calmly and walled off, leaving the family there huddled around David as he squirmed on the ground in agony. I had gotten about two hundred meters away from the scene before the tears started absolutely streaming down my face, I yanked my arm away from him and backed away.

"Don't touch me! Ya just as bad as he is!" I yelled my voice coming out sounding far more hysterical and insane than I had wanted it to.

"What're ya sayin'?" he shook his head slightly and stared at me.

"I hate you! Ya just as bad as that asshole! Leaving me there in that bed all alone! Ya horrible piece of shit!" he was walking towards me with every empty insult that I spat.

"Ya don't know what y'sayin'," he was a mere few feet away from m

"Fuck you!" I screamed at him. With a single, fluid movement he stepped forwards and wrapped his arms tightly around my body, pinning my arms to my sides. I kicked and thrashed around like mad. He simply squeezed me a little tighter and held me steady.

"Come back, ssshhh, come back," he was whispering in my ear so quietly that I wasn't even sure he was saying anything at all. It took me a few seconds until the energy slowly started seeping out of my body, I couldn't thrash around anymore, I could barely keep myself up.

"He didn't want us," I sobbed, my whole body trembling with the overwhelming sense of confusion and sadness.

"He didn't want me," I repeated over and over again. Daryl said nothing, just held me up, letting my arms go just enough so I could wrap my arms around his neck and cling to him. He held me tightly and let me sob hysterically into his shoulder, staining his already sweat soaked shirt.

Daryl let me get everything out of my system before letting me go and starting back towards the farm.

"I guess ya learned more about me than ya bargained for," I whispered after an hour or so walking in silence.

"Guess so," he looked over his shoulder at me slightly and then focused back on the ground in front of him.

"Why'd ya leave me in that bed Daryl?" I stopped where I was standing and studied him a little as he stopped beside me.

"I didn't mean to leave ya there," he said with a sigh.

"Then what the hell did ya do it for?" I growled.

"I don't do this shit alright!" he spat, glaring at me.

"What shit?" I threw my arms out to the sides angrily.

"This whole thing, I don't do relationships or feelings or anything!" he half yelled.

"What the hell are ya talkin' about relationships and feelings? There isn't any feelings! There was sex and ya got what ya wanted and that was it!" I shrugged a little at him and raised my eyebrows.

"It weren't like that!" he seemed to get all bent out of shape when I accused him of sleeping with me then leaving.

"Just admit it Daryl, just say ya slept with me then left. It ain't hard," I let out an exhausted sigh. This whole day was pretty much a write off.

"I left 'cause I didn't know how I was supposed to handle the fact that I was watchin' ya sleep and actually feelin' like this whole entire messed up, zombiefied world wasn't all that bad," his voice softened slightly at the end.

"What?" I breathed, so turns out the redneck wasn't all crossbow slinging madness and zombie killing.

"Nothin'," he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and started walking again, "like ya said, there ain't no feelings," and with that he kept trudging on towards Hershel's farm.

I walked a few steps behind him the whole way back, stuck in my own little world of exhaustion and confusion. We were almost at the edge of Hershel's paddock when I stopped and turned around. I needed more time, I needed to get out of this place for a little bit, how the hell was I supposed to deal with everything that had happened in the last two hours. It wasn't like finding out that my dog had died or something, it was an entire step family. Four brothers and sisters. What does someone do with that sort of information? I felt completely out of my depth, like something was shattered completely. I had gone through a lot with my own little dysfunctional family, but I had managed, in some way, to keep it together for a long time. I walked back into the tree line, instead of going back the way we had already come I headed east instead. If someone had asked me what in the hell it was I was doing at that moment, I couldn't have told them for the life of me. Wandering around aimlessly seemed to be something I was getting incredibly good at. These woods weren't getting any smaller and I wasn't getting any further in this whole mental dispute I had going on internally. It wouldn't be too hard, all I would have to do is keep walking. These guys wouldn't even notice I was gone, it'd be as easy as that. I trudged through the grass as quietly as possible, walking anywhere my feet decided to carry me. It felt like hours that I had been wandered around those woods when a muffled noise shook me from my little daydream. I came to a halt and listened intently to the world around me. I heard the noise again, it sounded like it was coming from directly in front of me. I edged forwards quietly, lifting my crossbow up slightly, just on case I needed to use it straight away.

The noise seemed a lot more distinct as I came to stand behind a tree and peered around into the low shrubs in front of me. I had to do a double back, I wasn't entirely sure I was seeing what my brain was convinced I was staring at. There in the shrubbery in front of me was Andrea and Shane, almost completely naked and going at it like rabbits. I blinked a few times and turned around to head back towards the house. I took a few steps when I heard a cracking behind me, I passed it off for nothing more than the two of them getting hotter and heavier than they already were. I dropped my crossbow back to my side and quietly edged away from the little scene behind me. I was back to replaying the horrible reuniting of my messed up family when I felt a searing pain coursing through my right arm. I dropped my crossbow as a knee jerk reaction and grasped my arm.

"Now who's daddy's lil angel bitch?"


	15. Real weird

Authors note: I have no rights to any of the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. As always criticism is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!

**CHAPTER 15 **

I turned around to see my Dad's smarmy little shit of a daughter standing behind me looking very pleased with herself. I let go of my arm and trailed my hand up over my shoulder.

"Ya fuckin' stabbed me? Are ya kiddin'?" I half yelled as I yanked the blade out of my shoulder with a yelp of pain.

"Y'ain't the only one that Daddy taught," she said looking very smug.

"Ya wanna go? I can take ya scrawny ass one hand tied behind my back!" I glared at her, forcing the surging pains that were reverberating all through my shoulder and right arm out of my mind.

"Take this," she drew another knife from her belt and threw it full pelt right at my other arm. I was a fraction of a second too slow and it sliced the outer part of my arm as it passed me. I growled and looked down at the bleeding gash on my arm then back up at her. Game on.

"Don't mess with me little girl, y'ain't got the strength to keep up," I breathed. She gave me a shit eating grin as she clumsily grabbed the machete that was strapped to her leg and lunged forwards. I side stepped her easily as she stumbled passed me with a growl. Turns out while she has impeccable aim, her hand to hand combat skills were below average. I watched her stumble around clumsily before she swiped the machete at me angrily I took a step back and missed her flailing blade.

"Keep ya gaze up, watch where I move, how I move, don't just slash randomly," I had no idea why I was giving her any advice and yet I was.

"Shut it!" she yelled lurching forwards again aimlessly. I ducked and took a few steps back from her.

"Who the hell taught ya to fight?" I asked shaking my head.

"MY father!" she yelled.

"Ooooh, I see," I shook my head slightly and scoffed, "he's clearly as useless at teaching as he is at being a father," I laughed.

"Fuck you!" she screamed running straight at me. I grabbed her wrist and forced it behind her back dropping her to the floor once again. She was way too easy to read.

"Ya RIPPED my family apart!" she yelled squirming underneath me frantically.

"Ya family was built on a lie anyway," I whispered into her ear. She thrashed around like mad trying to throw me off.

"He hates ya! He never wanted ya anyway! If he wanted you guys he would have stayed but he didn't!" she was breathing heavily but had given up thrashing, for the moment at least.

"Ya family was divided long ago," I whispered into her ear. It seemed that was enough to get her properly angry, I lost my grip on her arm and just as I did she forced herself up and threw me off of her back. I landed on my back right on the stab wound that she had elicited earlier. I groaned in agony at the burning sensation and rolled over onto my left side to try and stop it from hurting.

"He had us because ya weren't enough for him, ya were never good enough for him and he never ever wanted ya or that drug fucked mother and sleaze bag brother of yours!" I heaved myself up off of the floor just as she came charging at me again. I braced myself for her feeble attack but it never came. I heard the gun shot echo out first and just as as she got within striking distance. Her face contorted in a strange twisted portrayal of agony as an explosion of warm, red blood burst out from the centre of her forehead dousing the side of my face and neck with it. My mouth hung open as she collapsed into a heap on the floor, I looked up behind her breathing hard to see Shane and Andrea standing in front of me.

"What the fuck did ya do?" I gasped, looking down at the blood soaked body at my feet. Shane lowered the gun and visibly relaxed a little.

"What did you just say?" Andrea scoffed walking towards me.

"I said what the fuck did ya do?" I repeated a little more deliberately.

"He saved ya goddamn life ya ungrateful little shit!" Andrea exclaimed coming to stand next to Shane who was by my side looking at the mess in front of me.

"She was just another walker weren't she?" Shane said looking at me with a half lost expression. I opened my mouth to say she wasn't in fact a walker but thought better of it. He was still grappling with the whole Otis affair I couldn't bare to lump something else on him as well.

"Yeah, just another walker," I said dejectedly with a nod. Without another word the two of them headed back towards the house in silence. Andrea threw me a strange glance over her shoulder as she headed off, I had a feeling she was probably more aware of what I had seen that I had given her credit for. I waited until they were far enough away before wincing in agony and holding my shoulder and kneeling onto the floor.

"Don't move," I let out a sigh and hunched forwards a little. Damn that southern boy.

"Lemme take a look at it," I felt a hand on my shoulder and groaned slightly at the pain, "it's not too deep, ya should be fine. Why didn't ya tell Shane that it was ya half sister?" he knelt down in front of me and sat back onto his heels easily.

"Didn't want to," I replied shortly. He still wasn't exactly in my most favorable of books.

"Why the hell not?" he asked with a sigh.

"Because he's already dealin' with enough shit and didn't need that as well," I looked at the body laying next to us then frantically began wiping my face and neck with my hand, though I had a feeling it was doing nothing more than smearing it around.

"Stop, stop, stop, here," Daryl took his shirt off and used it to wipe the splatter from the side of my face. I sat so still and just stared at him, when he finally stopped wiping the blood from my neck. He looked down at the shirt then stuffed it into the back of his jeans and sat back from me.

"What were ya talkin' about feelings and relationships before?" I whispered studying my own hands a little.

"Now's not the time to talk about that, c'mon we need to get ya fixed up," he pushed up from his kneeling position and held out his hand to me. I sat there and stared up at his hand for a moment. My whole body ached, even my little toes hurt, I felt like I had a sledgehammer in my stomach and a concrete block connected to my feet.

"C'mon," he let his arm drop then slid his arms underneath mine and lifted me up easily, "Let's get ya back to the house," and with that he slung my arm over his shoulder and, half carrying me, made his way back to the house.

I was starting to feel like more of a burden to Hershel than anything else, he seemed to be constantly patching me up and giving me some sort of pain medication, though the impression that he gave was that it wasn't a problem. He had stitched my wound back together and I was sleeping it off in the upstairs rooms when Shane came in looking very defeated and tired.

"What ya doin' up here?" I asked groggily as he leaned on the edge of the bedpost.

"Who was she?" he said taking off his cap and playing with the brim a little.

"Who was who?" I responded gently, though I knew exactly who he was talking about.

"That girl out there," he bit the inside of his lip a little and looked at me sheepishly.

"No one, just another walker, like we said," I forced a smile and pushed myself into a sitting position. Thankfully the pain medication that Hershel had given me had managed to numb pretty much everything.

"I hate to have to do this to ya kiddo, but I gotta get it out of my system," he cleared his throat and shifted around a little awkwardly.

"What's eatin' ya?" I gave him a friendly smile and patted the bed a little.

"Its Otis," he said taking a seat near the end of the bed and clutching his hat to his chest almost like it was his only salvation.

"Right," I let my arms drop down into my lap and waited for him to continue.

"I know I shouldn't feel bad, what with Patricia gone now and all but I can't shake the feelin' of guilt I get every time I open my eyes," he was staring at the floor intently.

"What ya did was what ya had to do Shane, y'know that," I reassured him gently.

"But what sort of an extent does that go to? Where does that end?" he looked me in the eye, sheer grief and agony written all over his tortured expression.

"What're ya sayin'?" I asked with a puzzled expression.

"If I can leave a man there to die like that, not even killin' him properly first, what else am I capable of? I mean, what other sick shit could I do? I just walked away, like it was nothing, like it was just another bag that was too heavy to carry," he stood up and started pacing the room quickly.

"Now ya listen here," I sat forwards and looked him dead in the eye, "y'ain't a bad person Shane. What ya did out there at that school wasn't because ya were a bad human being, hell. Ya did what y'had to do to save the people ya love. There's a huge difference there, it wasn't done out of spite or out of bein' a horrible asshole that just got pleasure out of watching someone suffer. Ya did it to save Carl, and that's that, there ain't nothin' more to it," I folded my arms and waited for his response. He was about to speak when Daryl appeared in the doorway to the bedroom.

"I'll leave y'all to it," Shane said and quickly ducked passed Daryl and headed out into the hall.

"He's so weird," he said shaking his head and stepping into the room a little further.

"Yeah," I agreed with a sigh. He is weird but then again he's dealing with a lot of shit too, can't say I'd blame the guy for acting funny, I know I'd be acting a darn sight more insane than he was.

"How ya feelin'?" Daryl asked coming to sit on the end of the bed where Shane has sat before.

"Kinda drowsy from the drugs but other than that's alright," I said settling back into the bed a little.

"We ain't moved her body, didn't really know what ya wanted to do with it," he said looking at me expectantly. I watched him for a long moment, weighing up the different options that I had for the body outside. Of course the most obvious was to take it back to the house and give it to the family, even use it as collateral for them to leave the homestead and let us take it over. We could always burry it out there in the woods somewhere and forget about it, or better yet...

"Tell Hershel to put the body in the shed," I said quietly looking at the crinkled sheets on the bed.

"Now why the hell would ya wanna store that thing in the shed?" Daryl said with a puzzled and almost aggressive look on his face, "I mean don't that seem real weird to ya?"

"Ain't this whole dang zombie thing real weird anyhow?" I said with a smile.


	16. Trapped

Authors note: I have no rights to any of the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. Like normal criticism is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!

**CHAPTER 16 **

When I finally made my way down stairs the whole place seemed to have an extremely heavy air to it. Carl was up and running around, which appeared to be causing some friction between Lori, Shane and Rick. The only reason I knew that was because I could hear them going at it in the other room, something about Carl not being old enough or some such. Maggie seemed to be in a shit fit with a few different people, and I discovered that those people included me, though I wasn't entirely sure what I'd done. Hershel told me that he had moved the body and offered me a dry piece of toast as a sort of 'thank you'. I nodded in appreciation and headed outside to see where the rest of the team were assembled. T-Dog and Dale were cleaning out the RV, ordering things into different boxes and cleaning the things that hadn't been touched in a while.

"Well hey there stranger," Dale said as soon as I took a step down off of the porch and wandered over to where they were working. I gave him a friendly smile and stood closer to them to see what they were doing. I always felt a little strange around Dale, it was sort of like having a father figure that didn't want his kids being seen as anything other than ridiculously accomplished and insanely intelligent. I definitely felt out of place wearing my yoga shorts, cowboy boots and one of Daryl's tops. It was all I could find in the room when I woke up.

"Nice shirt," Sophia joked as she came running over to me.

"Thanks," I said going a little red. I don't know why, but for some unexplained reason I was feeling very self conscious and in a sense embarrassed. I wasn't that sort of girl either so it made things seems even more out of wack to me than they already were.

"So that's where my top went," I looked up to see Daryl leaning against a tree, an axe propped easily over his bare shoulder as he showed off his muscular torso. I smiled a little and knelt down so I was on eye level with Sophia.

"How about ya go tell Daryl that I'm sure he didn't run out of shirts in the apocalypse," she let out a very cute giggle and ran over to tell Daryl what I had said. I wandered over to the RV and hauled myself up inside.

"How're ya feelin' today?" Dale asked, taking a seat on the end of the bed.

"Still a bit sore," I said stretching my arm a little and holding onto the bandage on my shoulder tenderly.

"What're y'all doin' out here anyway?" I asked looking around the RV which had been cleaned and had a few mattresses propped against the wall of the RV.

"Oh," Dale followed my gaze over to the mattresses and then looked back at me, "Hershel needs the space in his house and he wanted us to set up camp outside, make things a little easier for him in there," he shrugged a little and gave me a sad smile. I furrowed my eyebrows a little and shook my head.

"Don't ya worry about anything Dale, y'all ain't gonna need to set up camp out here for very long," I smiled at him then headed out of the RV.

I ducked back into the house quickly, strapped my machete to my leg, stuffed my guns into the back of my shorts and grabbed my crossbow and bolts before heading back outside. These people had a home where my misfit father was stayed and they deserved the chance to set up and feel protected.

"Where ya headin'?" I was just off of the bottom step of the porch when Daryl's voice sang out in my ear. I turned to see him leaning against the post of the porch.

"Goin' to get my dang house back," I said with a half evil smile.

"Need some help?" he said walking over to where I was standing.

"I don't think they'll react too well to ya comin' along to kick them out of their hideout," I said raising my eyebrow a little.

"At least let me give ya a ride, the walk out there wasn't exactly short and I can guarantee, y'old man ain't gonna be too happy when he hears his second daughter got one to the back of the head," he pulled out a key from his pocket and gave me a knowing smile. I weighed up the options, he had the bike, which would be less than discreet when we were pulling up the driveway but then again he was right, my old man wouldn't be too pleased when I told him his third creation was shot through the head like a disgusting walker. Besides of which, I didn't really have any idea what I was going to do, I couldn't make them leave and I wasn't too keen on killing off a family, so I had to consider what sort of action I was going to take before I did it and maybe Daryl's reasoning skills could help me come up with a plan.

"All right, ya got a good point, I'd appreciate the help," I said after a moment, giving him a nod of agreement.

"Well all right then," he replied with a smile.

We both got kitted up, Daryl's crossbow was slung across my back along with my own, he had guns and knives and the works attached to the bike and to his own body, I felt a little strange walking out of the house with him, there was almost a sense that we were more than what we were, though whatever it was the we were wasn't exactly defined.

"Ya ready?" he asked climbing onto the bike and holding it up right.

"Always," I replied as he started the bike and revved the engine a little.

"Where the hell do ya think y'all are goin'?" Daryl and I both turned to look at exactly the same time, Andrea was standing off to the left of the bike looking incredibly unimpressed.

"We're goin' for a ride," Daryl said angrily.

"Y'all were just gonna leave and not tell no one?" she folded her arms across her chest in a menacing way.

"Dear pot, love kettle," I said simply.

"Now what in the hell is that supposed to mean?" she took a few steps towards to the bike.

"Ever heard the sayin' the pot callin' the kettle black? Well, I knew ya were out there fuckin' Shane's brains out and I'm willin' to bet my life no one else knew y'all were out there," I gave her a sinister smile as she sat there staring at me in disbelief, "so, pot, we're goin' for a ride," and with that Daryl revved the engine and took off down the track.

We turned out onto the main road and started slowly through the carnage that littered the road. The house was closer by road, though with all the slow moving ducking and weaving that Daryl was doing I was starting to wonder whether or not the walk would've been quicker. I sat quietly on the back of the bike, my mouth hanging open slightly as we passed through all of the wrecked cars. I hadn't made it out to the main road before now, Hershel had sort of taken me and I had stayed away from pretty much everywhere except Hershel's place. As Daryl maneuvered the bike carefully I caught a glimpse into the bloodied and broken interior of one of the cars, just as I was staring at the lifeless body inside the car intensely, it lurched forwards a loud hiss escaping its cracked and blackened lips. I jolted sideways out of surprise and felt Daryl frantically try and steady the bike, though with the speed we were traveling he couldn't correct it in time and the bike toppled to its side with a loud crashing noise as it scraped painfully along the road.

"What the hell were ya doin'?" Daryl growled at me as he kicked the bike to get it off of his leg. I squirmed angrily underneath the bike as he crawled out from underneath it and went to lift it up.

"Just get it off me!" I yelled aggressively at him my leg beginning to throb painfully under the weight of the bike. He was a few steps away from the side of the bike when a broken and predominantly boney hand grabbed him around the leg pulling him to the floor.

"Mother!" he kicked the hand angrily and with a sickening crack it broke clean at the wrist and fell away from his leg. Without missing a beat Daryl grabbed the two guns from the exposed side of the bike and began firing, blood spraying in all directions as the bullets connected with the heads of the walkers edging towards us.

"Daryl!" I grumbled as I tried to push the bike off of my leg. Seems like all of the beatings I had taken were finally taking their toll, my body felt like it had completely given up on me and had about as much strength as an infant.

I was panting heavily as I grappled with the some 600 odd pounds that had my leg trapped firmly in place, gun shots were still ringing out though I couldn't see where Daryl was or how bad the situation was. I started wiggling my leg slightly and pushed the bike with my free leg though it didn't budge.

"Daryl!" I gasped as I pushed the bike again. That's when I heard it, a low groan followed by the shuffling of shoes on the pavement. I stopped struggling and twisted my body so I could look behind me.

"Oh, shit," I breathed as the thirty or so walkers came into my view. The gun shots had stopped by that point and Daryl was no where to be seen.

"Oh shit, oh shit," I started panicking, my heart was beating so fast I was sure it was going to burst its way through my chest. I started frantically pushing at the bike as hard as I could. Daryl had taken the two guns from the free side of the bike and the crossbows on my back were locked into place where they were.

"Daryl!" I yelled again looking behind me in a panic. The walkers were coming up faster, their guttural moans ringing out loudly in my ears, their sullied and blood stained clothes sending out a reeking smell that made my very stomach turn.

"Daryl!" I screamed, my voice getting caught in the back of my throat making me sound more panicked than I would have liked. I started flipped over onto my stomach twisting my leg painfully in its position and started grabbing at the gravel, trying to get some sort of leverage to pull myself free.

"Daryl! Please!" I screamed again, tears starting to well in my eyes. I risked a glance to see the walkers closing in on me, they were barely six feet away.

"Daryl! DARYL!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, tears streaming down my face, as I tried in vain to get a hand hold on the gravel.

The last thought that passed through my head as the walkers closed in on me was that Daryl had left me, he'd left me there to die, like a bag of chum, just waiting to be devoured.


	17. Fights

Authors note: I have no rights to any of the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. Like normal criticism is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!

PS: sorry for the late update, fiancé had a motorbike accident and broke his arm, all good now but was in hospital with him for a few days and couldn't get time to write =P xxx

**CHAPTER 17**

I didn't think it was possible but my heart started beating in over drive and tears were absolutely drenching my cheeks as I yanked at my leg harder. I looked up to see a blood soaked walker standing over me. I let out a scream and shoved my hand between my leg and the bike and wiggled the machete out from its sheath on my leg. Just as the walkers hands clasped around my neck I thrust the knife up and straight into it's forehead, turning my head to the side as blood poured from the wound all over the side of my face. I yanked the knife blade out of the walkers head with a sickening squelch and half heatedly shielded my body as the corpse fell to the side exposing me completely to the next set of decaying teeth.

"Daryl! HELP!" I screamed, choking back tears as I struggled harder. I pushed frantically at the bike again trying to block out the grotesque, guttural groans coming from the group before me. If there was anything that my parents had taught me through their years of neglect was never to quit anything, and I'd be damned if I was going to die this way on this boiling hot road being devoured by a group of disgusting, blood thirsty walkers.

"Come on!" I whimpered, just as the next walker knelt down and opened its mouth, its yellow and flesh infested teeth a mere inch or so away from my neck. Just as I had resigned myself to becoming the next afternoon snack a bullet tore straight through the blackened flesh of its skull spraying blood all over my face again. This whole getting covered in putrid smelling goo was getting old. Very old.

I watched as the group of walkers were slowly picked off one by one and the group began to dissipate down into a measly few limp, properly dead, rotting corpses. I tore my eyes away from the group and went back to focusing on getting my leg out from underneath the bike. I wiggled my leg around as much as I could though it seemed with every move my leg stung more and more. I collapsed onto my back and held my hands over my face and started crying, I hated the feeling of being so weak I couldn't do anything to help myself. I lay there, trapped and completely useless and just cried into my hands. I felt the weight lift off of my leg just enough so I could slide out, and just as I freed my severely burned flesh from under the bike it crashed back down to the ground with a resounding bang.

"Come on," Daryl was holding out his hand to me, his chest rising and falling heavily as he breathed.

"Fuck you!" I yelled pushing myself awkwardly up off the ground and stumbling backwards. My cheeks were still stained with tears. I looked down at my leg to see a gaping hole of seared flesh and blood oozing back at me. No wonder it had hurt so much.

"What the hell is wrong with ya now?" he panted, letting his arm fall back to his side and taking a few steps towards where I was leaning against a broken down, crumpled car.

"Ya left me!" I screamed, lunging forwards, lashing out at him angrily with my hand clenched into a fist. He simply stood there calmly and let me hit his chest weakly.

"I didn't leave ya, I was watchin' ya the whole time," he said, tensing a little as I hit his chest again.

"So ya just watched as those dang things tried to kill me!" I squealed, trying to stop the tears from cascading down my face. He took a few steps towards me and without a second thought, swatted my hand away from him and wrapped his arms around me tightly, holding me firmly against his body, one hand resting in the back of my head while the other held my body. I thrashed around for a moment, anger surging through my very veins as I wrestled to get him off of me. It didn't take long though before I felt completely drained, my whole body going weak as I clutched to the back of his shirt and buried my face into his chest, sobbing weakly. I hated being vulnerable, hated being in so much pain and worse still I hated the fact that I felt completely useless.

"Y'alright," he whispered readjusting his arms so he could hold me upright easier. I cried into his chest for a long time, vaguely aware of the mess that I must have looked, what with thick, congealed black walker blood staining my face along with the bruised and half healed wounds that scattered my body.

"Seems like me huggin' ya is the only way to get ya to calm down," he said after a moments pause. I pulled away from him and looked into his electric blue eyes.

"Why'd ya watch me?" I said weakly leaning back against the car and wiping the side of my face with the back of my hand.

"Couldn't find the bullets," he said simply, holding up the rifle he had, shaking it slightly. I nodded weakly, something wasn't right about that excuse but I was far too exhausted to even contemplate debating the matter. I looked back over at the pile of corpses stacked up by the back of the bike and had to choke back tears again. What was going on with me, I wasn't the cry baby, seems like this apocalypse was making me more emotional than I would have wanted.

After a little while and a lot of effort, Daryl and I had the bike back upright and running again. Thankfully the damage wasn't bad enough that it effected the general running of the engine, mostly it was cosmetic damage thankfully for me, though I wished I could say as much for my leg. I rummaged through a few of the cars near the bike and found a clean shirt and some tape to strap the hole in my leg with, then tentatively clambered onto the back of the bike, wrapping my arms around Daryl's waist as he revved the engine and started off again. This time around, thankfully, the bike stayed up right the whole time and before I knew it I was directing Daryl down to the driveway of my home. We stopped at the top of the driveway and left the bike there.

"So, what're ya goin' to do when we get there?" Daryl asked as we started making our way down the gravel track to the house.

"I'm gonna get them out of my house," I said simply, loading a bolt into my crossbow and making sure all of my guns were loaded and my machete was in its sheath. I did feel like a pack horse lugging all of these weapons and extra ammo around, though in this sort of world it was the least you could do to ensure you lived to see the next day.

We stopped a few yards away from the house and exchanged a glance.

"Ya ready for this?" he said giving me a stern look.

"If it comes down to it, I'll happily plug the prick in the chest," I responded angrily.

"Probably won't need to go that far," he said raising his eyebrow.

"Just remember, anything attacks... Double tap, living or not," I replied, matching his gaze for a moment before taking a deep breath and heading towards the house. He fell into step with me after a second and we casually and quietly made our way up to the front porch of the house. We barely made it to the bottom step of the porch when the front door burst open and the old man's new wife came charging at the two of us. Daryl and I instantaneously raised our crossbows at her and took aim, that seemed to slow her down slightly.

"Where's my daughter you disgraceful little animal?" she screamed at me coming to stand on the edge of the porch her hand gripping the pole shakily.

"Dead," I said simply, raising my eyebrows at her expectantly.

"What?" she breathed, her grip on the pole getting tighter, holding her upright.

"What d'ya mean dead?" the older son came out of the house and came to stand by his mother protectively.

"I mean she got shot, killed, gone, done and dusted," I said training my crossbow on him while Daryl kept her in his sights.

"Oh my God," the woman started to panic, "oh my god. You killed my little girl, you monster! You killed her!"

"Calm down there ya crazy mule, she didn't kill her, someone else did," Daryl said shaking his head a little and looking at me as if she were crazy. I gave him a shrug and went back to looking down the scope of my crossbow.

"Where's my Father?" I asked angrily, time to move this on a little.

"Y'ain't talkin' to him! Ya got no right! He got shot the last time you were here and we don't want to go through that again!" the young boy spat at me.

"I suggest ya get him out here right now, before I force him to get out here," I said casually cocking the crossbow a little.

"No need for violence," my whole body went rigid at the voice. He came limping out of the house, clearly in pain and clearly struggling with the wound in his leg. He had a hand gun in one hand whilst his other clutched at the railing of the porch for support.

"Though, by the looks of things violence appears to be the only form of communication ya have," he said raising his eyebrow at me angrily.

"I'm only violent because some old jackass stole my house!" I responded. No more games.

"I didn't steal anythin' child, this house is my own, to raise my own family in," he said calmly.

"Well, time for y'all to move on to greener pastures. I want my house back old man, we got sick people and starvin' people that need this place and y'all ain't welcome here no more," I responded shifting my sights onto him casually.

"I ain't leavin' this place, now, y'all are welcome to come stay with us, but that means my rules..."

"Hell no old man! We ain't takin' orders from no one no more! We been takin' orders from that other old asshole and that was only 'cause he was keepin' one of ours alive!" Daryl cut him off angrily.

"That ain't my problem, this is my house, my family, my decision. And nothin' ya sorry redneck ass says is gonna change it," he responded smugly.

"Then we're just gonna have to take it," Daryl replied firing a crossbow straight at his shoulder, missing it by an inch and slamming into the wood behind him.

"Daryl!" I growled looking at him over my shoulders slightly.

"Don't ya dare come here and start firin' on me and my family!" He yelled taking aim at Daryl with his pistol.

"David!" his wife yelled from her seat on the porch steps.

"Dad!" his son was standing next to him looking equally concerned.

"Quiet," was all he responded with.

"Then get off our fuckin' land!" Daryl shouted, as he clicked the next arrow into place and raised his crossbow again.

"It sure as hell ain't YOUR land!" David retorted, "so don't come here tellin' me ya got rights to it!"

"Then give it to us and I won't have to fight ya for it!" Daryl spat taking a step forwards.

"Don't come any closer!" David responded loading the gun and standing a little more rigid.

"Daryl! Enough!" I hissed dropping my own crossbow back down to my side and turning to face him.

"No! It ain't enough! He needs to know his goddamn place! We've been through hell and back, and I'm sick and fuckin' tired of being pushed over and told what to do! Y'all got six seconds before I start firin'! This is her land and y'all ain't welcome no more! So pack up and get the fuck goin'!" Daryl spat back looking at me momentarily then back to the family on the porch. The two younger children had come to stand at the door, I could only just make out their faces behind the fly wire.

"Don't ya dare start makin' orders!" Dave screamed.

"One!" Daryl started counting, his eyes narrowing and going almost pitch black.

"Daryl!" I pleaded.

"Two!"

"Daddy?" one of the little girls whispered from the door.

"Stay inside baby," he growled, narrowing his eyebrows, "Daddy's got it covered."

"Three!"

"David, please, we can go, we can leave ya said yaself there was a farm down the road that's deserted and perfect, please,"

"Shut it, we ain't goin' no where," he held Daryl's stare.

"Four!"

"Daryl!" I half ran over to where he was standing and rested my hand on his shoulder, "come back," I whispered. He falter slightly.

"Five!"

"Come back, please, Daryl, come back to me," I rested my forehead against his arm and felt his body loosen slightly. He blinked a few times and seemed to come out of a trams almost.

"Daddy!" the scream sounded so distant I was so focused on Daryl that I barely had a chance to register what happened next. Just as Daryl lowered his crossbow and just as he turned to look at me an ear splitting bang echoed out from the porch. Daryl's eyes went wide, the blue turning a piercing, pulsating blue as he matched my gaze. My heart stopped, my body was completely rooted to where it was as I watched him kneel forwards, his hands at his waist and collapsed onto the dirt.


	18. Baby

Authors note: I have no rights to any of the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. Like normal criticism is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!

**CHAPTER 17**

I looked from Daryl to the family standing on the porch staring at us. David had lowered his gun and was staring at us with an angry look on his face. I bit the inside of my lip, forcing myself to choke back the urge to scream and put a bullet right between his eyes then and there. In the same second that it took me to kneel down, the distinctive, resounding 'bang' that can only come from the barrel of a rifle pierced the silence of that front yard. I snapped my head up just in time to see David crumple to the decking in a heap as his wife squealed softly and scrambled over to him. I blinked a few times at the scene before me then shook my head and turned back to focus on Daryl kneeling on the floor breathing heavily.

"Is he okay?" Andrea came over to where I was kneeling next to Daryl and crouched down on the other side of him. I checked his stomach, the bullet hadn't gone in, thankfully, it had only grazed his skin.

"It's just a flesh wound, he'll be okay," I said sitting back in my haunches and giving her a confused look.

"What now?" she asked with a huff.

"What the hell are y'all doin' here?" Daryl said clutching his side and looking at her angrily.

"We heard y'all talkin'," Shane said coming to stand behind me, his gun still aimed at the family on the porch.

"Did ya kill him?" I asked looking over at the kids huddled on the decking around David.

"Not yet," he said without so much as a blink, I gazed up at him and in that split second, wondered just how far Shane would go.

"Y'aint allowed to shoot my Dad!" came the squeal of the older boy from the porch. Simultaneously we all looked up, just in time to see him raise his Fathers gun shakily at us.

"Don't tempt fate boy," Shane hissed, holding his gun steady at the young boy.

"Y'aint allowed to shoot my Dad!" the little boy repeated, a little more shaky this time.

"Shane," Andrea's voice was solum and gentle as she stood up and took aim on the mother, who had come to stand next to her son.

"Just get off of our land," came the woman's tired voice.

"It ain't ya land!" I growled back, feeling equally as tired as she sounded.

"It sure as hell ain't your land," came a male voice from the house. Shane and I exchanged looks as two men came out of the house holding shot guns up at us. They looked no bigger than Shane, although they did look a little more weathered.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Daryl staggered to his feet and looked at me expectantly.

"They are travelers, people that have accepted our rules and have agreed to live here in harmony with us, protecting us, hunting with us..." David clambered to his feet clutching his bleeding shoulder.

"Blah blah blah," Shane interrupted angrily, "the way I see it, y'all are just standin' in our way makin' it harder for us to keep our little group alive."

There was a sort of western style stand off, all that was missing was a tumble weed. There was some more talk exchanged, Shane yelled and the other guys got louder as well. That's when it all kicked off.

"Get OFF of our land!" the little boy screeched.

"Stop talkin' son!" Daryl responded angrily.

"Shut it hick!" Came the hissed insult from one of the men on the porch.

"Fuck ya!" Daryl spat back holding his gun up to the man.

"Go away!" The boy squealed again walking forwards.

"Stop movin' kid!" Shane yelled. I held my gun steady at the men on the porch.

"Son, don't move!" David replied.

"I got this Dad," he squeaked.

"Ya best be listenin' to y'old man kid," I said looking over at Shane's ice cold expression.

"Shut up, just shut up! You ruined my family!" he spun to aim the gun at me angrily and took a few steps forwards.

"Not one more step!" Shane yelled.

"You destroyed everything we had!" he continued still advancing slowly, his hands shaking like crazy.

"At least y,'all got to grow up with a father," I responded evenly.

"Back up," David's voice was low and menacing.

"Stop! Stop pretending like ya had it worse than us! Ya got no idea what we went through!"

"Don't move kid, I will shoot!" Shane yelled again, turning on his heel to face us directly.

"Please, ya don't understand the meaning of hard!" I spat.

"Ya never cared about him anyway!"

"Ya best stop him old man, before I put one through his brain!" The tension was so thick, it almost felt like it was constricting me.

"Back off son!" Came the disparate screams from the men on the porch.

"Ya ain't got the right to come here and ruin everything for us!" His voice cracked as he choked back tears.

"Y'all don't know the meaning of ruining everything!" I replied letting my gun drop.

"Back off Jake!" his mother screamed.

"Come back Jake!" the other men on the porch yelled simultaneously.

"Fuck you!" he screamed raising the gun angrily.

I met his gaze just as his finger hit the trigger...

... Luckily for me, Shane was a quicker shot. Just as I took, what I thought was my last breath, a burst of blood ripped through the side of his head and exploded onto the dirt as his body fell lifeless to the floor, the gun flopping down beside his tiny hand. His mother let out a piercing scream and it all kicked off. Shane and Daryl took down the two men standing on the porch, Andrea let a bullet fly straight into the woman's knee as she buckled to the ground in a thud and I was left standing there, gun raised straight at my father's head.

"I have a family," he pleaded, tears welling in his eyes, "Please, Allie, baby. I can keep ya safe. I still love ya kid. Please. I have a young family!" he took a few steps towards me, staggering painfully.

"Last chance, get off my land," I breathed.

"Baby, I paid half of this! Please baby, please don't do this," I could feel everyones eyes on me, waiting, watching intensely to see what I would choose.

"Please baby. Y'aint this girl. I know y'aint the kind of girl that would kill a man," he said coming down from the porch.

"Ya don't know me no more," I replied coldly.

"Baby... Please," he whispered, his arms outstretched to the side. I glanced down at his wife sobbing hysterically into the dirt as she crawled over to the boy on the floor.

"Ya weren't there for us, why the fuck should ya be there for them?" I said letting my gaze travel back over to his distressed and horrified face.

"Please, please baby," he begged again.

"I'm not ya baby," and without so much as a twitch I walked the few steps forwards, pressed the gun to his head, and pulled the trigger.


	19. Something different

Authors note: I have no rights to any of the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. Like normal criticism is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!

PS sorry it took so long to update, the Christmas break has been a little bit manic!

**CHAPTER 19**

I didn't so much as miss a step as a fountain of dark red exploded from his head and his body fell lifeless to the soil. I dropped my arm and kept walking until I was around the side of the house and out of sight then knelt on the floor, gun still clutched in my hand, and vomited. My whole body shook violently as I knelt there in the dying grass.

"Y'okay?" I didn't feel like talking to Shane about this at all. I wasn't okay, I'd just killed a man. I wasn't a killer, I wasn't a murderer, although nothing is the same anymore. Who really knows who I am now.

"Yep," I said wiping my mouth slightly.

"Hey listen," he squatted down in front of me and looked me in the eye as I sat back on my heels and took a deep breath.

"Killin' someone, in this kind of world, ain't that bad. It ain't the same as it once was. I was a man of the law, but these days, hell, it's kill or be killed. I mean, ya saw how messed up I was after what I did," he took his hat off and scratched his head slightly, letting out a loud sigh, "y'just got to find a way to accept it, like ya told me to do."

"Shane," I looked him in the eye, my body still trembling slightly, my hands resting on my knees, "I'm fine," I said with a finality in my voice that made him sit completely still.

"Okay," he said with a slight nod and without so much as another word he stood up and headed back around to where he had come from. I sat as still as I could for a long time, simply staring at the grass in front of me. I didn't feel like vomiting anymore, although my head felt like it was swimming, I leaned forwards a little to try and make the nausea go away.

"Nice shot," I looked up to see Daryl leaning against the side of the house with his arms crossed over his chest.

"How's ya side?" I asked looking at the red stain on the side of his checkered top.

"S'okay," he replied simply. I didn't know what else to say, I was still upset with him about the whole bike thing and didn't really know how to react to his standing there.

"Killin' ya old man ain't a bad thing ya know," he said tentatively after a moments silence.

"Don't," I replied simply.

"Don't what?"

"Don't lecture me about it bein' the right choice and all that shit that goes with it. 'Cause if ya gonna tell me it was the right thing to do, then I don't wanna hear it, and if ya gonna tell me I did it for the good of everyone else, then I don't wanna know," I looked down at his shoes then back at the grass in front of me, "I don't want to know what anyone else thinks about it... I got my reasons," I didn't want to talk anymore. In fact, I didn't want to do anything anymore, my body had finally caught up with me and in that moment, everything ached, every square inch of my body hurt as though I had just been run over by a steam train. I leant against the side of the house and waited for the pain to subside a little.

"I'm sorry I didn't look after ya better on that road," Daryl's voice was as soft and gentle as his hand was on my shoulder as he pulled me into his chest and hugged me tightly. He was sitting next to me on the ground and held me tightly while I closed my eyes and fought off the waves of pain that rippled through my body. I didn't know what to say, I didn't want to say anything at all, I just leant against him, letting him support me and waited for the feeling to be over.

"I'm sorry kid," Daryl said softly.

"Don't," I replied, the pain had subsided and I felt about a thousand times better.

"What?" he looked slightly hurt.

"Please don't, because if ya goin' to apologize it's only 'cause I'm hurt, and even if it were genuine, I don't wanna hear it yet, I want to be able to reply and remember what ya said later, not be delirious from the pain, so please, don't," I pushed away from him and tried to stand up.

"Let's get ya back to Hershel," he mumbled as he slid his arm underneath my arms and helped me upright.

Daryl walked me back over to the rest of the group, the kids and their mother were no where to be found and Shane and Andrea were just walking out of the front door.

"Place seems pretty secure," Shane said coming down the steps to stand in front of us, Andrea close in toe behind him.

"Should be a welcome change for Hershel," Andrea said with a smug look on her face as she placed her hand on her hip.

"We'll head back to the farm house, send Rick over in the car, maybe bring Dale or someone and some extra weapons, if y'all could hang here over night, see how safe it is then head back tomorrow and we'll get everyone movin'," Daryl said adjusting his arm underneath me and squeezing me a little tighter. I couldn't help but smile slightly at his subtle action. Everyone exchanged nods and whilst Shane and Andrea headed off back into the house to make sure it was secure, Daryl and I made our way slowly to the bike again.

"Hey listen, I got somethin' I been meanin' to tell ya," Daryl stopped next to the bike and let me lean against the seat for a bit of stability.

"What's up?" the look on his face worried me, it wasn't quite his normal angry look but it wasn't exactly concern either, there was something strange in his eyes.

"Look," he let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair slowly and looked down at the make shift tourniquet wrapped around my leg.

"Daryl, please, if ya gonna get all mushy or weird on me, can ya wait until tomorrow at least, 'cause right now I just ain't really in the right frame of mind to deal with anything else," I said with a sigh and picked at the dirt underneath my nails weakly. He didn't say or do anything for a long time simply stood there in front of me waiting for me to make a move. I looked up at him after a moment and let my hands fall back by my sides lightly, looking straight into his brilliant, deep, ocean blue eyes. In one swift movement he had one had resting lightly on the side of my neck and the other in the middle of my back, his lips pressed to mine so carefully and softly, almost as if he we're afraid of hurting me.

"I just wanted ya to know that ya mean a hell of a lot more to me than anyone else in this place every has," he said letting his hands rest on my thighs and looking at me with a soft smile.

"Ya mean a lot to me too," I sad softly with a smile.

"Let's get ya back to that farm house," and with that I moved off the bike so he could start it up then jumped on the back and before I knew it we were off again.

Before long we were slowly making out way up the gravel driveway to Hershel's house. We were met by Rick, Dale, Carol, Sophia, Lori and Carl all staring at us expectantly as we pulled to a stop and Daryl shut the bike off.

"Anythin'? Rick as soon as we were within earshot of him.

"Yeah," Daryl came to a halt a few feet in front of the little group as I came to stand next to him.

"What happened to ya leg?" Sophia asked, a mixed look of worry and disgust crossing her petite features.

"Oh this?" I lifted my leg a little and looked over at Daryl who was staring at the ground a little absently.

"It was nothin', came off the bike is all," I said looking at her with a smile.

"Don't look like nothin'," Hershel said walking over to the group, his eyes locked on my still seeping wound.

"It's okay," I said again.

"What happened at the house? We thought we heard gun shots?" Lori asked with a look of concern.

"Yeah," Daryl said exchanging a glance with me.

"Nothin' too bad, but the place is clear now, we can move in whenever we need to," I said folding my arms over my chest.

"Where'd they all go?" Carl asked from next to his fathers leg.

"They left," Daryl said simply. No one seemed to want to question the matter any further.

"Where are Shane and Andrea?" Dale asked looking from Daryl to me and back again.

"They're still over at the house makin' sure it's all secure before havin' everyone else come over there to join them. We decided that maybe Rick and Dale could go over there, take some more guns over, camp there the night and make sure that there aren't any other walkers hangin' around them parts," I said calmly.

"Okay then, Dale," Rick said nodding towards the car.

"We' goin' to need the guns Hershel, I'm sorry, but we need to protect our own now," Dale said turning to Hershel who was standing behind the others. Hershel didn't say much, simply nodded and lead Dale off over to the other side of the house.

"Do we need to take anythin' else over there?" Rick asked me as the other two men headed off.

"No they have everythin' else that they need," I replied with a slight shrug.

"We'll get goin' as soon as we can," Rick said exchanging a grateful glance at Daryl and I before heading off to find Dale and Hershel,

"Thank you, both of ya, we owe you our lives," Lori said, resting her hands on her sons shoulders. I simply nodded slightly then headed towards the house to go and have a shower and lie down. Things seemed to be finally starting to catch up with me.

I let the steaming water run over me, my leg didn't look half as bad as it had when it had happened, I'd cleaned it and was letting the warm water wash away the soap that had covered the hole before. I still wasn't sure about Daryl's actions on that road but it was the least of my worries now. I stared at the water hitting the tiles and staining them a brownish black colour as I cleaned myself properly for the first time in a few days, yet as I stood there I couldn't help but replay the last few hours over and over again in my head. My fathers blood was on my hands, I hadn't even thought about what I was doing, just grabbed the gun and fired. I turned the water off, my brain still functioning enough to tell me that I shouldn't waste water, and stepped out into the cool air in the bathroom. Drying myself down I kept picturing the spraying of that brilliant, crimson red blood as he hit the floor. I dried myself absently and pulled my yoga pants and tank top on then placed the patch onto my leg that Hershel had given me before.

"He deserved it," I whispered to myself in the mirror.

"Ya damn right he did," I nearly hit the roof as I turned to see Daryl standing in the open doorway.

"What the hell are ya doin' there?" I squeaked.

"Didn't mean to startle ya, just y'were takin' ages in here and I thought I'd come check on ya," he said gently, taking a step towards me.

"Thanks," I whispered with a little nod, still staring into the mirror at my own reflection.

"He deserved everything that he got baby, don't y'dare think otherwise," he came to stand behind me and placed his hands around my waist, his head resting gently on my shoulder as he kissed my neck softly. I closed my eyes for a moment and simply enjoyed the tenderness of his touch.

"Turn around," he whisperd. I obediently did as he said, turning just slow enough so he could get a good look. When I finally turned to stand face to face with him his eyes had gone that deep, dark blue I hard become so familiar with and his heart was beating a little faster in his chest. I stood up on my tippy toes a little and very carefully pressed my lips to his. His reaction was exactly what I had wanted, he let out a soft groan as I slid my tongue across his lip and lightly inside of his mouth. I let out a soft moan as he held me closer to his chest as his tongue explored my own.

"Bedroom?" he breathed, breaking the kiss just long enough to get the word out. I simply nodded and followed him down the hall and into the spare room we had used before. I had a feeling one shower wasn't quite going to cut it today.


	20. Prayer

Authors note:1 I have no rights to any of the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. Like normal criticism is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!1

Also as an added note, I should've done this about 18 chapters ago, but a MASSIVE thank you to all those amazing people that have kept giving me such wonderful reviews! I always love seeing what you all think and whether you're enjoying it! It keeps me writing and keeps me motivated to shake things up and try new things. So thank you with all my heart! I cannot begin to explain how much I LOVE seeing those review emails in my inbox and of course all of your reactions to the things going on! Xxxxxx much love and light to you all xxx

**CHAPTER 20 **

When I woke up the room was dark and there was no light or sound coming from anywhere. Daryl was sound asleep next to me his chest rising and falling lightly as he breathed slowly. It was strange how something so simple can be such a comfort. The simple act of seeing someone else breathing so evenly, so steady made me feel so much more at ease, both a good thing and a bad thing in such a hostile environment. I once had a yoga instructor that had told me the only thing in this life that we can control completely is our breathing, it is a constant and will never ever change until the day we die. She couldn't have been more right about anything. I sat on the end of the bed for a moment, giving my eyes a chance to adjust to the darkness and allowing myself a moment to wonder whether or not that yoga instructor has indeed made it out of this place alive or if she had joined the ranks of the walking dead. I shook myself lightly out of my daze and searched around for my underwear and Daryl's shirt. My bag was still resting beside the door and I knew I had some shorts in there underneath the other stuff.

Once I was dressed I crept out of the room and made my way down the stairs to the main part of the house. There were a few personal effects laying around on the kitchen table and some other bits and pieces strewn across the floor as I made my way through the house as quietly as I could. The house appeared to have this eery silence to it, something I had learned very quickly in this sort of world was not always a welcome sign. I snuck around the corner and saw the door to the room where Carl had been nursed back to health was sitting ajar. I wandered over casually to see if anyone was inside, there was a faint light casting long soft shadows across the floor and as I came to a halt I could hear voices behind the wooden doorframe talking in hushed yet excited tones.

"A baby! Lori, sweetheart, I know ya want the best for this group but this decision is yours and Rick's to make and our input should only be taken as a source of advice, not gospel, a child is a blessing. Whether it be in this world or some other world, obviously God has some plan for this child otherwise he wouldn't have given it to y'all," that voice undoubtedly belonged to Carol. I ran my fingers down my chest and gripped at the two sets of rosary beads that hung there. I heard the hushed tones of Lori mumbling a response, but I couldn't make out what she had said. I decided that I had heard more than I needed to. Lori was pregnant, in this kind of environment that could either be a death sentence or a blessing. Whatever it was, it would soon be found out.

I headed outside quietly making sure that the doors were secured before I made my way out onto the porch. I hadn't prayed in a while, but I figured that now was just as good of a time as any. Things seemed to be getting more and more complex as the days went on. Daryl told me that my father deserved all that he had gotten, though I wasn't entirely sure death was the best thing for him. I supposed I had shown some sort of mercy considering I had blown his brains clean out so that he couldn't turn even if he was bitten. I stood for a moment taking in a deep breath of fresh air. The night was warm, as was the norm lately, although it felt as though it was beginning to cool down slightly, which meant it wouldn't be long before the temperature dropped in the evenings and the nights began to get longer. There was a slight smell of alcohol on the wind as I stood there looking out over the paddocks. Everything was still, no sound or anything disrupted the night. I paused a moment longer before turning to head around to the side of the house to see who had gotten the arduous job of night duty.

I peeked around the corner to see T-Dog standing on the porch looking out over the open paddocks, his face was sullen and the rifle he had was clutched to his chest. I watched him for a moment as he looked down at the wooden decking beneath his feet and then back up to the open paddocks before him. I bit the inside of my lip lightly, turned around silently and headed down the steps and out into the open field. Things felt like they were settling a little, while I was still unsure about what I had done to my father in the same respect I felt like there was a weight that had been lifted. I quietly wandered through the paddock for a while before finally finding a patch of tall grass to sit down amongst.

"I know it's been a while since I last did this," I whispered as I held the rosary beads in my hand and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for the bad stuff that happened. For the things that I can't change, most of all I guess I'm sorry I could've have been a little more forthcoming with help for those people that needed it. I should've done more for Danny, I should've stayed around when mum looped out, I shouldn't have left when I did. I didn't want to have to put a pick through his head, why the hell did he have to go get that stupid tattoo on his arm," I could feel the tears prickling at the edges of my eyes, "I shouldn't have shot Dad, what the hell did I do? I took away someone's father, Jesus they deserved better, those kids deserved more than we ever had. I didn't mean to hurt them like that, I didn't want it to go like this. I hated him, I hated him and I, I, I turned out just like him," I furrowed my brow and blinked a few times trying to calm myself down.

"You're nothing like your Dad," I almost jumped out of my skin when Glenn's soft tone rung out from behind me. I dropped my rosary beads to hang again around my neck and turned to face him.

"I didn't mean to pry, or to scare you," he seemed to talk fast when he was nervous.

"It's okay," I sighed giving him a sad smile. He knelt down next to me tentatively and rested his hands on his knees.

"Can I tell you something?" he asked softly playing with the lining on his jeans.

"Sure," I waited for a moment as he seemed to go through the motions of some sort of internal battle.

"I think what you did for us, getting that farm, is nothing short of awesome. There's not a lot in this world now that gives people something to believe in. You barely know us, and yet here you are helping us more than anyone has in a long time," he tapered off at the end, his voice becoming barely more audible than a whisper. His whole speech seemed riddled with an awkward under tone, it seemed Glenn didn't have much interaction with women before now.

"Thank you," I said after a moment. He simply gave me a sideways glance and nodded.

"Mind if I pray with you?" he whispered softly, giving me a sideways glance. I smiled slightly, and slipped one of the rosary beads off over my head and held it out to him.

"What're you going to pray for?" I asked gently as he took the necklace from me. He paused for a long moment then looked me dead in the eye and responded with something that made me feel more appreciated and respected than ever before.

"I'm going to pray for you," and with that, we both fell into a comfortable silence


	21. Moving out

Authors note:11 I have no rights to any of the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. Like normal criticism is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!11

A1gain cannot begin to thank you all enough for the reviews and the favorites and everything! I love reading your comments and the thoughts you guys have on the chapters! It seriously is the reason that I keep writing, because of all the awesome stuff you all write and the favorites and everything! I'm writing another story as well now, and will be uploading it pretty soon! So double the fun here kids! Haha! I'll keep updating soon as always so keep your eyes open!1 1X1x1x1x1x1x1 1muc1h1 1l1o1v1e1 1a1n1d1 1l1i1g1h1t1 1t1o1 1y1o1u1 1a1l1l1 1x1x1x1

**C1H1A1P1T1E1R1 1211**

I sat in the yard with Glenn for a little while longer before deciding to make my way into thehouse to see if Daryl was still asleep. When I snuck in to the bedroom Daryl was curled up on the edge of the bed sound asleep. I stood for a moment watching him as he slept before taking a deep breath and quietly walking over to the edge of the bed and sitting on the edge. I looked down at the single set of rosary beads that now hung around my neck. I had let Glenn hang onto my set that I had used, I figured I had Danny's protection now and I didn't really need to sets of rosary beads. The rosary that I gave Glenn had seen me through some troubled times, I figured it could offer him some sort of help, especially in this sort of a world.

"Where did ya go?" I turned at the groggy sound of Daryl's voice.

"Hey sleepy head," I whispered laying down next to him and kissing his shoulder softly.

"What were ya doin'?" he grumbled rolling onto his back and resting his left arm over his eyes wearily.

"Just checkin' on everyone," I whispered, "nothin' to worry about. Get some sleep, I'm goin' to take next watch," and without another word he slowly drifted back off into a peaceful doze. I waited for a while to be sure that he was sleeping properly then snuck out of the room again and back through the house, grabbing my crossbow as I wandered out into the cool night air.

"Hey, how about a hand over?" I came around the corner and gave T-Dog a friendly smile making sure not to startle him.

"Hey there little lady," he said with an easy smile as I came and propped my crossbow against the post and leaned my forearms on the railing casually, looking out over the dimly lit paddocks.

"How's the arm lookin'?" I asked casually glancing at the patch on his forearm.

"It's gettin' much better, Hershel is an impressive doctor, given the circumstance," he said following my gaze down to the patch as well.

"Yeah, bein' hurt in a place like this ain't exactly the best thing, he's got some serious balls helpin' us all out the way he has," I said quietly returning my gaze back to the fields.

"Seems like y'know what it's like to be hurt," he said after a pause.

"Yeah, I've been through the ringer a bit, don't know what would've happened to me of Hershel hadn't been the to pick my sorry ass up off the floor," I said with a soft laugh.

"What, uh," he turned to face me awkwardly and scratched his head a little. I straightened up and gave me an expecting smile.

"What actually happened to y'out there?" he said biting his lip a little. I smiled a little and nodded slightly. T-Dog was the sort of guy that seemed like a bit of a lone ranger, a bit of a hardass on the outside but when you give him a chance he seems to be just as lost, unsure and trying to connect as the rest of us are.

"There was a lot that happened T," I said gently. I wasn't sure how he would handle hearing what had happened to me, to be honest I wasn't entirely sure how I was handling what had happened. I'd given Daryl the very basic rundown of what had happened with the guys but even then, I hadn't wanted to delve into too much information. It had made me really uncomfortable.

"I get that feelin'. Ya don't have to tell me anythin' I've been in enough trouble to understand that sometimes shit like that is hard to tell people," he replied with a sigh.

"I don't know about you, but I know I've been through enough shit to know that talkin' about it ain't gonna change anythin'. Y'know what I mean?"

"I'm hearin' ya lady, I'm hearin' ya," he said as he stretched and let out a yawn.

"Go on, get some sleep, I got it covered," I said nodding towards the house and smiling.

With a nod he turned and began to make his way into the house.

"Hey," I turned to face him, as he stopped and looked back at me. "What happened to me before I got here, isn't really relevant. It's what happens from here that matters T. Who ya were is nothin' compared to who ya gonna be," and with a slight nod I grabbed my crossbow and turned back towards the rising sun. After a few moments I heard the front door click shut and relaxed a little as I realized for the first time in a while I was alone. I had time to process things, to think without someone asking me what was going on or how I was doing. It was just me and the world. I smiled to myself after a moment before hoisting myself up onto the railing and watching the sun rise. There hadn't been many zombie encounters at Hershel's farm since the onslaught we had encountered that had cost us two peoples lives. It had been pretty calm for a while out here, it gave everyone the peace of mind that they needed to be sure that there was still some good in this world, still a chance to live relatively normally. I wasn't sure how it was going to go making everyone uproot themselves and move to the other farm, I had a feeling it would cause a huge problem between Hershel and Maggie as I was almost certain she was going to want to stay with us no matter where that meant we were. Hell I wasn't even sure that the other farm was secure.

I'd been so lost in my train of thought that I hadn't realized that Shane, Rick, Andrea and Dale has pulled up into the driveway until I heard Rick's voice ring out from across the paddock.

"The place seems perfect, they seem to have kept it well looked after and here's boards on all the windows and places to keep safe watch from," I jumped a little as I heard Rick's boots on the wooden decking.

"Not half bad really huh?" I said with a forced smile as I jumped off the railing and stood in front of him.

"I can't thank you enough, ya saved our lives. Hershel's place has been a godsend no doubt but I have this sneaking suspicion that everyone has sort of outstayed our welcome," he took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair exhaustedly.

"Hershel has a way of makin' ya feel like that sometimes," I said with a shrug.

"Y'aint wrong about that," Shane joined in coming to stand just behind Rick with Andrea and Dale close in toe behind him.

"Shall we get everyone up and ready?" Dale asked.

"No better time that the present," Andrea said looking over her shoulder at him. With a nod from Rick we all headed inside to gather everyone up and make sure we had everything we needed to go.

"Maggie, this is not negotiable, y'aint goin' with them, this is where ya belong, here with me," I stood behind the door for a moment and listened to Hershel's angry tone. I had a feeling this would have caused a problem. I listened for a little while longer as they discussed the matter further before turning around and heading up to the second floor to get stuff packed up. Rick and Shane had said they wanted to get going before midday, give ourselves a chance to set up in the day light and make sure everyone had a chance to get settled.

"Got everythin'?" I nearly hit the wall when Daryl came out of the room holding two backpacks and his crossbow.

"Jesus, Mary," I gripped my chest and gave him an angry look.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya," he said with a laugh as he handed me my backpack.

"I got everythin' I need," I replied with a nod, taking my pack from him and throwing it over my shoulder.

"Let's go then," he smiled at me then planted a kiss on my forehead as he made his way passed me and headed down the stairs. I waited a second before doing a quick double check of the rooms before heading down the stairs and into the main room where everyone was packing up their things.

It took us a few hours but before long we had everything bagged up and packed into the cars and ready to head over to the farm.

"Maggie, if ya want to come with us, ya can, there's more than enough room here," Maggie was standing on the porch as Rick spoke to her from the ground.

"Thank you," she said with a solemn nod, "safe travels," and with that she walked back into the house.

"Hershel," Rick turned to face Maggie's father and I decided I'd let them be to have their time to exchange thank you's and the like. I waited until they were finished before I went over and had a chat to him about what he had done for me. I thanked him for his hospitality and for patching me up when I needed it. He was completely humble about it all, said it was his duty and that was that. Turns out, Hershel wasn't exactly as forthcoming with thanks or acceptance either.

Everyone did a double check of the house and before we knew it, we were on the road again. Daryl and I were on the bike at the front if the convoy and if I'm completely honest, hanging on to the back of that bike as the sight of Hershel's farm house was quite probably the most relieving feeling I had ever experienced. Right then, in that moment, all of the worries and the concerns I had had with moving the convoy over to my farm house seemed to dissipate in an instant. I think, this may be the best move I had made, not just in this world, but ever.


	22. My little girl

Authors note:111 I have no rights to any of the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. Like normal criticism is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!1

Keep the reviews and the alerts coming guys, they are what keep me writing and I love reading what you all think, it makes me happier than anything else =) thank you all for the brilliant comments you leave! Xxx

**CHAPTER 22**

It took us a few days to settle in but we finally got everyone set up and into a daily routine. There were a few of us that had to bunk in with each other but it seemed to make everyone happy. I had the feeling that this particular group had become quite comfortable with each other and it was almost a safety sort of thing that they all stayed within a close proximity, like an illusion they all believed that if they were in the same room the walkers wouldn't be able to touch them. Duties were shared out much like they were at Hershel's, we took turns at keeping watch during the day and at night, Carol, Sophia, Lori, Andrea (much to her great disgust) and I would go out and find different edible fruits and vegetables in the morning, while we were gone Dale, Shane, Rick, Carl, T-Dog and Glenn would sort out water and organize different methods of cooking and help with general maintenance and upkeep of the house. In the afternoon while they were doing gun training and preparing food or washing clothes etc Daryl and I would go out hunting to see if we could find anything. Most of the time it was a bunch of squirrels and some rabbits and not a whole lot else, there were days when we would go out early in the morning, tracking a buck or something and come back in the late afternoon with more food than we could handle.

The nights were much the same, one person would keep watch from the attic upstairs while everyone else helped around the house or made sure everyone's wounds were cleaned and the kids were getting their serve of education. Lori and Carol had taken much of an interest in teaching Carl and Sophia the basic scholastic sort of things, reading, writing, arithmetic, the important things. I had asked Lori why she was so intent on teaching the kids these things when there wasn't really much of a use for the things they were learning anyway, she had looked at me with a sad look in her eye and replied simply "I want to give these children a chance to feel like they are still growing up in a semi normal world. Even just a chance for them to feel normal is all I want." I'd had enough sense after that not to ask anymore questions. It seems like everyone was looking for something to make them feel a little more normal in this world.

Turns out that was part of the reason that Maggie had run away from Hershel's farm a day after we had left. I was skinning squirrels with Daryl when she staggered up to the house looking frazzled and completely disorientated.

"Maggie?" Dale had burst through the front door with Glenn and Rick close in toe behind him.

"Hey," she stood at the bottom of the steps and all but collapsed as Glenn threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Daryl and I watched the exchange from our spots on the grass and exchanged a puzzled look as we saw how sullied and exhausted she looked. The walk hadn't been that far between here and Hershel's, although if something had gone wrong it could've been much longer. She placed the big backpack she had on the ground and returned the hug Glenn was giving her.

"What're ya doin' here?" he said resting his hands on her shoulders and giving her a smile.

"I need somewhere to stay," she whispered looking around as everyone came out and looked at the exchange that was happening.

"Y'always got a place here with us, we told ya that before we left," Rick said giving her a reassuring nod.

"C'mon inside sweetheart, we'll get ya cleaned up," Carol held her hand out to Maggie and lead her slowly inside.

"Is it just me, or is it real weird that she's here all of a sudden with a massive bag and a freaked out look on her face?" I asked Daryl after everyone had gone inside.

"There ain't nothin' in this world that is normal anymore," he said simply as he sliced through the middle of a squirrel and slammed it onto the small rock between his feet.

"Yeah," I nodded and returned to gruesome job of skinning the tiny creature in my hands.

It was just starting to get dark by the time we had finished skinning and cleaning the squirrels and had decided to head inside to help get the rest of the food ready. Lori and Carol were sitting on the porch chopping carrots and talking quietly when we finally joined them.

"Got ya! Now you're it!" Daryl and I ducked to the sides of the stairs as Carla and Sophia came running out of the house and charged down the stairs.

"Carl! Sophia! Where we can see ya guys!" came Lori's voice from the porch.

"Okay!" came the chimed sing-song style reply from the two. I gave Lori a knowing smile as I headed into the house, which she returned with a laugh and continued on with chopping the carrots. The scene inside was much more bleak than the one outside on the porch. Maggie was sitting cross legged on the floor, her head in her hands talking quietly to Glenn and Dale who were sitting on either side of her listening intently. Rick, Shane and T-Dog were unpacking her bag which appeared to have not a whole lot more than just her bare essential clothes and all of the medical supplies Hershel had. I exchanged a look with Daryl, something had happened at the farm, there was no way Hershel would simply give Maggie all of his supplies and send her out here, he was too stubborn for that. Daryl narrowed his eyebrows and watched the exchange between the three before shrugging a little and nodding towards the kitchen.

I followed him quietly and set the catch down on the bench. Andrea was washing some of the plates and putting the salad together in a bowl making sure everything was clean before dumping it in the bowl. None of us spoke we simply went about cleaning our food. It was quiet enough in the kitchen the only real noise in there was the sound of Andrea cleaning the plates, so it was easy to hear what Maggie was saying, considering her back was against the wall that adjoined the kitchen and the living room. By the sounds of thing Hershel's farm had been over run by walkers and he had managed to get all of the supplies and some of Maggie's clothes packed into the bag before they had burst through the threshold. Didn't sound like the nicest of ways to say goodbye to someone's father but in the same vein, neither was having to shoot them in the head so I couldn't really comment.

After we had finished preparing the bits in the kitchen Daryl, Andrea and I headed out onto the porch to see of the girls were done chopping up the rest of the food. I hadn't even put a foot through the door when there came a resonating high pitched scream from the surrounding woods. Lori and Carol both almost threw their plates on the ground as they stood up and leaned over the handrail on the porch.

"That was Sophia," Carol said, her eyes going wide with fear.

"They're probably just playin'," Daryl said casually moving out of the way as the rest of the group came to stand outside on the porch to see what the noise was.

"Where are they?" Shane asked angrily looking at the two women standing side by side.

"They were just playin' chasey, that's all," Lori replied, her tone equally as harsh. I slowly walked over to my crossbow which I had left leaning against the wall by the front door earlier and picked it up. Daryl watched my movement out of the corner of his eye and half smiled. I hated when he did that, read my every move, made me feel like I was predictable, but then that smile, that smile caught me off guard every time. I was too busy being distracted that I almost didn't hear the rustling of the trees off to the side of the house, my head snapped to the side just in time to see Carl burst through the shrubs and come running full throttle towards the house, Sophia was a few steps behind him.

"Carl!" Lori yelled her grip tightening on the hand rail as the two charged towards the house. No one moved, no one was quite sure if they were playing or what they were doing. They were only a few yards from the house when we realized.

Everything that happened, happened so fast no one was really sure what actually went down. Carl and Sophia were running flat strap towards the house, as they got nearer though it became clear that they faces were as pale as a walkers and their cheeks were soaked in a mixture of sweat, tears and dirt. Just as their feet hit the dirt a few yards from the back door the walkers appeared, eight in total, a mixture of men, women and children. Rick was the first to move, jumping off the steps closely followed by Shane who charged towards the two kids. Andrea held up her gun and took aim only to be stopped by Daryl almost instantly.

"Y'crazy? Ya shoot that thing it's gonna attract every damn walker around here! Stupid bitch," he growled as he forced her hand back to her side and slung his crossbow from his back and loaded it. I loaded my bolt into its position and just as it clicked into place I heard a gut wrenching, ear splitting scream erupt from Carol. I looked up just in time to see Sophia drop to the ground, her feet giving way underneath her, a moment later as she was scrambling to her feet one of the female walkers all but fell right on top of her and sunk her teeth straight into Sophia's shoulder eliciting a gurgled squeal from the little girl.

"Sophia!" Rick's voice seemed to echo off the very air around him as he pulled the gun from his holster and fired.

A ripple of blood tore through the walkers head as she collapsed next to the little girl.

"No noise huh?" Andrea spat sarcastically as she raised her gun and started firing at the oncoming group.

"Fuck!" Daryl and I both flew off the steps and took out two of the walkers advancing towards Sophia, the arrows tearing neat holes through the middle of their heads, their sickening black blood beginning to pool around them as they fell limply to the dirt. I pressed my boot into ones head and retrieved my arrow, that's when I saw it. Just as Sophia was being scooped up by Rick I noticed the walker that had bitten a hole clean through shoulder had not been dead very long. My body went rigid. She had a hole through her knee that looked a whole lot like a bullet wound.

Oh no.

I looked up just in time to see two small bodies dragging themselves towards me, their eyes a yellowish red colour and their mouths hanging open as they groaned at the smell of living human flesh. It felt like the whole world had stopped right there, I couldn't hear anything other than the pounding of my heart in my ears, the sound of my breath as it got caught in the back of my throat. I blinked a few times before grabbing the handgun I kept permanently strapped to my leg and plugged a bullet into each of the babies skulls. I let my arm fall back to my side and looked around me at the carnage as the noises of the world slowly started to trickle into my head. First the rustling trees as the wind blew through them, then the sound of dirt moving underneath someone's feet, the sound of people breathing and talking quickly, then the clicking of guns and weapons being put away. Carol's soul destroying sobs came in last and as I turned to look at the house and Carol sitting at the bottom of the steps cradling her lifeless, blood soaked child to her chest, the words 'isn't that your step mom?' finally rang out in my ears.


	23. Silent sound of broken faith

Authors note:1111 I have no rights to any of the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. Like normal criticism is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!11

K1e1e1p1 1t1h1e1 1r1e1v1i1e1w1s1 1a1n1d1 1the1 1a1l1e1r1t1s1 1c1o1m1i1n1g1 1g1u1y1s1,1 1t1h1e1y1 1a1r1e1 1w1h1a1t1 1k1e1e1p1 1m1e1 1w1r1i1t1i1n1g1 1a1n1d1 1I1 1l1o1v1e1 1r1e1a1d1i1n1g1 1w1h1a1t1 1y1o1u1 1a1l1l1 1t1h1i1n1k1,1 1i1t1 1m1a1k1e1s1 1m1e1 1h1a1p1p1i1e1r1 1t1h1a1n1 1a1n1y1t1h1i1n1g1 1else1 1=1)1 1t1h1a1n1k1 1y1o1u1 1a1l1l1 1f1o1r1 1t1h1e1 1b1r1i1l1l1i1a1n1t1 1c1o1m1m1e1n1t1s1 1y1o1u1 1l1e1a1v1e1!1 1X1x1x1

**C1H1A1P1T1E1R1 1213**

I stood there staring at Carol as she rocked Sophia back and forth in her arms and sobbed quietly, Rick and the others had remained where they are were, giving Carol enough space to do whatever she needed to attest point. Carl was kneeling at the top of the stairs sobbing into his hands, with Lori holding him tightly to her side as she watched Carol, tears streaming down her face as well. Everyone was stunned, completely rattled to their very core. I could barely move, all I could manage was to stare at the bodies at my feet, the woman I had seen only a few days prior and the children that she had protected.

"That's her ain't it?" I blinked a few times and forced myself to look up at Shane who was standing so close to me I could practically hear his heart beating in his chest.

"I..." I nodded so slightly that the others couldn't see and looked back down at the massacred body at my feet.

"Y'say nothin' y'hear me? Nothin'," his voice was hushed as his blue eyes bored into the side of my skull. Why the hell wasn't I meant to say anything? It's not like I invited them back here as zombies to have a feeding frenzy. Beside, there's no hard evidence to say that zombies have any sort of memory or recognition of their former life before they became flesh eating night walkers. At least no evidence that I knew of.

"Y'okay?" I felt a hand on my back lightly and turned around to see Daryl standing beside me looking down at the bodies.

"I'm fine," I replied absently.

"Y'ain't and that ain't hard to see, c'mon, we need to get this place secured, make sure we're ready if more of them things decide to stop by," he took my hand lightly in his and started back towards the house again. I followed him numbly still feeling partly responsible for the tragedy that was Sophia. Carol had only just gotten her back, she didn't deserve this sort of punishment, no one did. Not in a world where everything had already gone to the dogs. Daryl and I were almost at the house when I heard Andrea's voice from the porch.

"Isn't that ya stepmom and her kids?" my head snapped up as I saw her descending the stairs and walking straight towards the bodies behind me.

"Andrea!" Shane's voice was so harsh and crisp that everyone froze. He stepped in front of her just a fraction too late as she stood over the body of the woman we had encountered a few days earlier.

"My god," she turned to face the rest of us with her mouth hanging open.

"Shut it!" Daryl turned around and stepped in front of me protectively.

"This is on you! This whole thing!" Andrea's eyes flashed with a look of sheer excitement which quickly turned to malice as she continued.

"You brought them here! They would never have come here if y'hadn't sent them off into the woods like that!" she had a look of pure excitement on her face as she spoke, the tension that was building from all angles around that space made it feel like the world was caving in on all of us right then and there.

"Y'Shut ya mouth right fuckin' now or I'll shut it for ya!" Daryl's enraged tone ripped through me like a bullet.

"This is _all_ on you! The walker that bit Sophia was ya _stepmom_ and y'know it!" she walked towards where I was standing only to be met with Shane's gun and Daryl's crossbow trained right on her.

"Back _down_ Andrea! Now is _not_ the time for this!" Rick was fast making the impression as the reasonable one of this group. I turned around to face the rest of the group, knowing full well my face was about as pale as Sophia's.

"Carol, I'm... I'm sorry," I whispered just loud enough so that she could hear me. She looked up from her position on the floor, Sophia's blood soaked her shirt, staining it a deep, almost black red color. The side of her face was smeared with red blood from where she had wiped the tears away from her eyes. She looked as worn, as skeletal and as hungry as the walkers.

"Y'don't get to apologize, not this time," her eyes seemed to turn a rich black, as if her very soul had been lost when her child's neck was torn open.

"We can't do this now!" Glenn piped up from the porch rendering everyone silent.

"He's right, we need to sort out what we're going to do with Sophia, we can't just leave her," I heard Shane whisper to Rick behind me. I couldn't bare to tear my eyes away from Carol who had gone back to clutching Sophia to her chest.

The stunned silence lingered a little longer, we all knew what was going to come with Sophia but no one seemed to really want to admit it.

"C'mon! We're sittin' fuckin' ducks out here!" Shane all of a sudden yelled, coaxing everyone towards the house again.

"Carol, please, I know this is hard but y'have to come inside, we have to get everyone to safety, please," Dale was kneeling next to Carol speaking quietly to her. I stood as far away from the house and the group as I could, I felt entirely responsible for the whole thing, my stomach felt like it was churning and I felt like I wanted to just lay down and let the walkers take me alive.

"C'mon," Daryl took my hand and lead me towards the house.

"Daryl, I," I held back a little and looked him in the eye.

"It ain't ya fault, I ain't gonna let anythin' happen to ya, c'mon, we need to get inside and make sure we're ready in case anythin' else happens," he squeezed my hand a little tighter and pulled me towards the house. Just as were we heading up to the steps Shane, Rick, Lori and Dale managed to collectively get Carol to leave Sophia where she was and got her to go inside. Granted it was harder than anyone expected and Carol was all but crawling along the floor as she sobbed, heartbreaking, soul destroying sobs as she was dragged into the house. Daryl and I were the last two through the doors and just as we shut the front door, T-Dog and Shane boarded it up and secured the windows making sure no light, and possibly even no air, could make it in through the windows.

We managed to cook the squirrels and everyone sat down to eat their rations sullenly, it was pitch black outside and we had all decided to sleep in the living room, there was more than enough bedding and blankets for everyone to sleep on so it seemed a little more logical to all sleep in the one room, Rick and Shane had also decided it was easier to protect everyone if we were all in one spot. T-Dog and Dale took first watch, while the rest of us tried to get at least a little bit of sleep before we had to take over. Maggie seemed to have calmed down a lot and Lori had helped Carol clean up and was back down with the rest of the group curled up in a ball by the door almost as if she thought her presence there would help her pain subside somewhat.

No one spoke, it seemed no one really knew what to say, Daryl stayed next to me hugging me tightly and softly stroking my hair, it was the first time since I had met him he was showing me affection while everyone else was around to see it. I nuzzled into his chest a little and stared at the floor, listening to the world that was that room. The beating of hearts, the silent sounds of broken faith, the noise of the lost, the inconsolable noise of a mother that had lost her only child in a world that would never offer her anything more than what she had and what she had now... was nothing. I was just starting to lose myself in thought when we heard it.

Everyone was so quiet that the noise sounded like it was right in that room next to us. Carol sat up slowly and stared at the door, everyone's heads turned and watched her intently, it was silent for a long moment before she clasped her hand to her mouth and tried to suppress her hysterical sobs.

"What the hell," Daryl whispered beside me just as we heard the scratching noise at the wooden decking outside. My mouth fell open slightly when the sickening realization hit me. I stood up slowly and half slid, half walked over to the door as slowly and as quietly as I could manage. I placed my hands on the boarded up, locked door and looked down at Carol, her eyes were wide and staring straight into mine, boring into my very soul, making me feel as hysterical and lost as she was. I took a deep, shuddering breath and put my eye to the peephole, extremely aware of the collective breath being held behind me.

I squinted a little at the darkness encompassing the world outside and it took me a second to see the small, frail, bloodied figure standing at the door. I bit the inside of my lip and squeezed my eyes shut momentarily, praying the sight before me was just a dream, as I opened my eyes again I saw her bloodied, sullied little hand reach out towards the door handle and jiggle it, trying to pull the door open. My whole body went completely rigid as the door rattled eliciting gasps and whimpers from the group behind me. My eyes welled with tears instantly as that distinctive, heart rendering, guttural groan erupted from her tiny little throat as she scratched at the door frame angrily. I pulled away from the peephole and turned around, my back pressed against the door and slid down until I was sitting on the floor with my knees against my chest. I clasped my hand to my mouth as the scratching got louder and Sophia's moans became more aggravated and stared at Carol, her hands clasped to her ears, her mouth moving in silent prayer as she cried hysterically into her knees. I looked up at Daryl just as the flood of tears broke through the barrier my eyes had created and spilled over my cheeks.


	24. You too

Authors note:11111 I have no rights to any of the Walking dead characters save for Alice and her family, they are my own creation and they are based on my own values etc however are not based on my history nor my life. Like normal criticism is welcomed and appreciated. You can also follow me on twitter Pixie_Photos. As always enjoy!111

K11e11e11p11 11t11h11e11 11r11e11v11i11e11w11s11 11a11n11d11 11the11 11a11l11e11r11t11s11 11c11o11m11i11n11g11 11g11u11y11s11,11 11t11h11e11y11 11a11r11e11 11w11h11a11t11 11k11e11e11p11 11m11e11 11w11r11i11t11i11n11g11 11a11n11d11 11I11 11l11o11v11e11 11r11e11a11d11i11n11g11 11w11h11a11t11 11y11o11u11 11a11l11l11 11t11h11i11n11k11,11 11i11t11 11m11a11k11e11s11 11m11e11 11h11a11p11p11i11e11r11 11t11h11a11n11 11a11n11y11t11h11i11n11g11 11else11 11=11)11 11t11h11a11n11k11 11y11o11u11 11a11l11l11 11f11o11r11 11t11h11e11 11b11r11i11l11l11i11a11n11t11 11c11o11m11m11e11n11t11s11 11y11o11u11 11l11e11a11v11e11!11 11X11x11x11

**Chapter 24**

**I was paralyzed from the sight I had just witnessed. There was a mortified lull that had encompassed the whole room. I was frozen where I was, my hand still clasped to my mouth in a horrified expression of terror. I was staring straight at Carol whose hands were still clasped to her ears in a feeble attempt to block out the guttural groans and scratches coming from her baby girl outside. Her hazy blue eyes were boring into my very soul, they were coated with a clear, watery film from the un-fallen flood of tears that were building rapidly. No one seemed to make any moves around us, the room seemed to fall away from the two of us leaving us suspended in pitch black with only the reverberating sounds of Sophia echoing around us in the emptiness. I blink a few times, tears spilling out over my cheeks, absolutely saturating my skin and falling onto my already dirt encrusted, blood stained tank top.**

**"Come back," I jumped at the sudden warmth and pressure of someone's hand on my shoulder. The pitch black that surrounded Carol and I seemed to lift only slightly.**

**"Come back baby," the tenderness in the tone made my body twitch slightly. I blinked slowly a few times, my eyes still transfixed on Carol, my breathing resonated through my ears and I found myself breathing more shallow as I sat there. I felt the warmth and toned flesh of someone's arm slide underneath my knees followed my the same strong arms encircling my waist and before I had a chance to come out of my pitch black waters I felt myself being lifted up and carried away from the wooden door. I squeezed my eyes shut and steadied my breathing, blocking out the other sobs, gasps and pain laden breaths of the other survivors around me. **

**I kept my eyes shut as I felt myself being lowered and handed over to someone else.**

**"She's okay," I heard a whispered tone and opened my eyes just in time to see Shane straightening up. He'd carried me over to the other side of the room, and he didn't even seem to have given it a second thought or even labored underneath my weight. I looked up at him and stared vacantly as his shaven head, his eyes filled with remorse, understanding and something else I couldn't quite pin down. I blinked at him a few times and turned my head to look at the new surroundings I had found myself in. I was sitting against the wall only for a brief moment, before I had a chance to even move Daryl grabbed me and pulled me over to him, somewhat like a small child, and sat me so I was across lap, his legs crossed underneath me and his arms encircled around my stomach his left hand resting on the side of my head holding my head lightly to his chest. I swallowed hard and looked up momentarily to see Dale's judging gaze falling upon the two of us in the corner. I ignored his stares and hurried my face into Daryl's chest, harsh, raspy sobs rattling my whole body as I clutched as his shirt and he held me tighter, his fingertips stroking my hair so softly. **

**I hadn't seen Daryl be so affectionate in front of everyone, it made me feel a little more comfortable though I was aware of the judgmental glances we were being given. I gave up caring after some time and focused on the feeling of safety I was suddenly overwhelmed by. I hadn't felt safe for what felt like an age and it was a welcome change of pace, for a few precious moments, I felt like everything was at peace in the world. Daryl kissed the top of my head and gathered me up closer to him, making me feel almost like a fragile little girl. Another change in pace for me, considering I had spent most of my time feeling like a butch serial killer.**

**"I need ya to know somethin'," he whispered against my hair softly after a while. I slowly tilted my head up to look at him. I wasn't sure how long we had been sitting there but it must have been more than a few hours because Carl was curled up asleep against Lori, Shane and Rick had taken over the watch, Dale was sitting next to Carol who still hadn't moved and most of the others were either dozing or asleep. **

**"What's the matter?" I all but mouthed the words so no one else could hear. The scratching and gurgling noises were still erupting from outside though, it seemed, it was getting less and less consistent and aggravated than it had been some time before. Carol whimpered every so often at the noises and suppressed her sobs whilst Dale just let his arm rest around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. **

"I, uh," Daryl cleared his throat lightly and adjusted himself underneath me. I sat up a little and moved backwards off of Daryl's lap so he could straighten out his legs. He held my hand and looked down at my fingertips as he gently traced patterns over my palm with his thumb.

"Hey," I reached out and touched the side of his face, tilting it so he could look into my eyes. He stared at me intensely for a few seconds before glancing back down at our hands laced together. his eyes were a darkened shade of blue in the shadows and I could only just make out the look of nervous intensity in his expression.

"What's the matter?" I asked again more cautiously leaning back a little on my heels and staring at him intensely. Carol let out another squeak behind us and Dale hushed her gently. Daryl's eyes shot up to Carol and he winced, almost as if he was weighing up his options and then glanced back at me and back to Carol again. What the hell was going on?

"I," the words seemed to get caught in the back of his throat and he looked down at my hand again. I retracted it away from his, growing more and more worried with every second the silence lingered between us.

"Daryl just say it," I breathed, playing with my hands on my lap and staring intently at them, too uncertain and concerned to look at him.

The silence lingered on for a while more before I felt his calloused hand gently touch the bottom of my chin and tilt my head up. I lowered my eyes lids and refused to meet his gaze.

"Look at me Alice," he said so gently that it almost sounded like he was whispering from his very heart. I shook my head stubbornly, still too afraid that he was going to completely shatter me right then and there, tell me he'd slept with Andrea or something and didn't want me around any more.

"Please," he pressed. It was strange, hearing him being so tender, when I was so accustom to him being the hardass of the crew.

"Why?" I breathed, closing my eyes completely and squeezing them shut slightly.

"Because I want to look at ya when I say it," he whispered. I squeezed my eyes for a second longer before opening them and looking into his eyes.

"There y'are," he said, a smile coming over his lips, contorting his face into what I can only describe as a perfect display of sheer bliss.

"Just say it," I whispered slowly to him.

"I," he looked down for a second and adjusted himself into a kneeling position then looked at me.

"Ya what?" I said a little more angry than I had intended, I was growing weary of his elongated pauses.

"I love ya," his eyes stared straight into mine, unwavering, un-faultering and completely transparent and filled with emotion. My mouth fell open slightly and right in that moment the whole world seemed to just stop, giving us the time we needed to talk.

"I ain't ever met anyone like ya before, I didn't think I ever would, I don't do the mushy stuff but, I just..." I cut him off by straddling him slowly and pressing my lips to his intently. It took him a split second before he reciprocated, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer to him, groaning into my mouth as I slid my tongue over his and raked my fingertips through his hair, trying to keep my breathing as steady and as quiet as possible. I moaned softly before pulling back from him and looking into his eyes, our faces only inches from one another, my eyes trained directly on his beautiful, crystal clear baby blues.

"I love ya too," I whispered, unable to contain the smile that burst across my lips as I rested my forehead against him and closed my eyes. Listening, once more, to the steady beating of my hunters heart.


	25. Big Bad Wolf

Authors note: As always I cannot begin to thank you all enough for the reviews and everything that you write. It makes it so easy to write when I know there are people out there reading! It's you guys that keep me writing and keep me updating, even if it is just for fun haha =)

Enjoy!

Light & love always

xxx

E

**Chapter 25**

I was jolted out of my content world of happiness by the angry snarls of Sophia and the harsh whispered tones emanating from Shane and Rick in the far corner of the room.

"What the hell are ya goin' to do?" Rick spat.

"I'm gonna put one in that little girls brain Rick! What the hell else can we do!" Shane replied equally as viciously.

"And what the hell d'ya think that's gonna do? Ya go out there poppin' bullets left right and centre ya gonna bring every dang walker for miles reigning down bloody hell on this little wooden box," Daryl commented from his spot next to me, his arm still wrapped around my shoulders, holding me to his chest easily.

"Exactly," Rick agreed.

"We can't just leave her out there," the voice was so tiny it almost went unheard. I looked over at Carol kneeling by the door and felt my heart beat start to rise just a touch.

"What?" Shane dropped the whisper and spoke normally. This was not going to end well for anyone.

"She's my little girl, we can't just leave her out there to be eaten," she turned to look at the room behind her, her eyes still wide and glazed over as if she was looking straight through all of us.

"Ha," Shane scoffed bringing his hands to his mouth in frustration before holding them out to his sides in a frustrated manner.

"Let's face reality here Carol," he dropped his hands down by his sides limply, "she's dead, she ain't comin' back in this house, the only way we can deal with her is to put one between her eyes. I know it ain't easy..."

"Ya don't know anythin' Shane! How could ya! All y'care about is yaself and keepin' ya own ass safe!" the room went completely still at Carols outburst.

"For gods sake Shane, just let her be," Lori spat at him harshly. Andrea went and sat by Carol who simply leant into her for support when Andrea wrapped her arm around her shoulders.

"We gotta deal with that little girl out there!" Shane said his voice raised considerably.

"Would y'keep it down! We don't know how many of them things are out there," Rick chastised Shane angrily standing up and staring him down harshly.

"We know my baby is out there," Carol sobbed.

"She's a danger to everyone Rick! I know y'know that!" Shane was standing so close to Rick that if he so much as breathed too heavily he would touch him.

"We can't do shit until mornin' Shane, we can't afford to put everyone in danger," Rick was glaring so harshly at his friend that it was intensifying the testosterone and tension in the room tenfold.

"Ya can't kill my baby," Carol squeaked looking up at the two men standing in the middle of the room.

"She's already dead Carol," Dale's harsh tone made everyone turn and look at him in astonishment.

"I sympathize with ya I do, but she ain't alive, she ain't a livin' thing anymore," he knelt down in front of her and took her hands lightly into his own, "she's gone, and as hard as that is to stomach, she is a danger to everyone in this house. We have to consider the needs of those in here as opposed to the needs of someone we can't help anymore. Carol, ya have my word that she will get the proper send off she deserves."

Carol looked up at Dale for a long time, staring into his eyes vacantly before turning to face the rest of us in the room.

"Okay," she breathed, "but we wait until mornin'." Her tone had a finality to it that seemed to elicit a bowed head response from everyone.

"We can't..."

"Shane! For all that is left in this world! Shut... The FUCK... Up!" Andrea was glaring at Shane, her eyes as cold as ice.

"It's not open for discussion," Rick backed her up.

"First light. I mean it," Shane said after a pause before gripping his gun tightly and storming off upstairs to keep watch. Everyone fell silent as his footsteps echoed from the top floor and stopped as he settled into his little perch.

"I'll make sure he doesn't do anythin'," T-Dog said quietly as he headed out the room and up the stairs after Shane.

There was a silence that spread across everyone once more. Carol finally tried to lay down and get some sleep, though her gentle sobs were still audible in the stillness of the room. I sat against Daryl comfortably, making sure at least some point of my body, no matter how minute was touching him. It's funny how a simple touch can make the overbearing weight of the world just that little bit easier to hold. Sophia's sluggish footsteps trudged up and down the front porch, her gurgling, hunger filled groans dulling down every so often before rising again when someone moved or made a noise from our sanctuary inside. Everyone tried to remain as still and as quiet as possible though after a few hours Carl burst into tears, whimpering about how she was his only friend and how he was never going to be able to have a friend like her again. Lori held him to her chest muffling his cries just enough so as not to stir the death eater outside any more than need be. I looked over at them in the pitch black and was only just able to make out the hunched over shape of Lori as she cuddle Carl tightly. Her eyes were wide, staring at the floor in front of her feet, tears welling as she comforted her distraught son. It seemed the pain he was feeling was tearing straight thorough her very heart making her equally as distressed as he was. I couldn't help but purse my lips in confusing and look up at Daryl. I wondered if he had ever felt that before? Ever felt so helpless at someone else's pain that he himself ended up going through the motions as a sort of sympathetic self torture.

I was so lost in my own intense train of thought that I almost missed the light crunching of twigs underneath heavily clad feet. I sat up straight my eyebrows narrowing at the pin stripe lines of moonlight coming in between the cracks of the boards on the windows. Daryl's body seemed to stand at attention at the sound as well. I was vaguely aware of everyone else shifting uncomfortably as I edged slowly closer to the windows to see what had moved in the forrest around our little safe hold. I was only a few feet from the window when a resounding, ear splitting 'bang' ripped through the stillness of the night outside. Everyone was sitting up, alert and staring wide eyed at the door. I remained dead still anticipating another shot... Though it never came. Sophia's footsteps and angered groans had ceased outside which only seemed to entice more sobs from Carol.

"Well, well, well..." the call came from across the other side of the threshold. The room seemed to suddenly drop thirty degrees in temperature, a frightening chill rippling through the bodies inside. I turned around to give someone a confused look to show my lack of understanding, but instead I was met with the pale, wide eyed, clenched jawed face of Daryl staring at the door. His hands gripping the crossbow so tightly to his chest I was afraid he was going to break it in half.

"This looks like that there little girl we was all carryin' along with us when we left Atlanta!" the southern drawl called again. There was a few gasps that rang out across the room.

"Must mean that little, sad, pathetic, excuse for a brother of mine is in there somewhere," with every word the footsteps grew closer and closer until a sound of heavy boots were clunking on the decking outside.

"Must mean them pigs are in there too," the emphasis on the insult at Shane and Rick was so menacing and vicious that I found myself beginning to feel the same chill as everyone else. I turned to stare at the door and waited for another call.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the three loud, resounding knocks on the wooden door rang out in the room. Carol sat with her mouth wide open, Andrea next to her with the same expression. Lori clutched Carl to her chest tighter, her hand going immediately to her mouth as Rick wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Glenn stared wide eyed at the door as Maggie stared at him with confusion plastered across her fine features and Dale simply glared at the door sheer fear evident in his eyes. I turned to look back at Daryl who's eyebrows were narrowed and his whole body rigid as he stared straight through me at the door. I looked back at the door, my body tense with the atmosphere in the room.

"Oh little pigs, little pigs..."

A pause...

"...Let me come in."


	26. Merle Dixon

Authors note: as always I cannot begin to thank you all enough for the reviews and everything that you write. It makes it so easy to write when I know there are people out there reading! It's you guys that keep me writing and keep me updating, even if it is just for fun haha!

Enjoy!1

Light & love always1

xxx1

E1

PS this one is only a short chapter, things are going to start getting a little more interesting from here =) I promise it won't drag on for much longer. x

**Chapter 26 **

I turned back to look at Daryl, my eyes narrowed in confusion and my mouth hanging open a little. Everything was quiet and all eyes were glued on Daryl. It appeared that whatever happened next was entirely at his discretion. I flinched a little when his eyes finally settled on mine. There was a darkness there, an uncontrollable, inconsolable something. I couldn't pick what it was exactly but it was more evident than any emotion I had seen in his eyes before now. He watched me for a long time, his eyes unwavering and unblinking.

It was fear.

Daryl Dixon. Was afraid.

There was a loud bang as the door took another forceful beating, this time rattling slightly. I jumped, mirroring Daryl's action and turned back to look at the door.

"Now, now Darylina, y'don't want me to have to kick down this here door do ya son?" Daryl closed his eyes slowly and bit the inside of his lip in frustration.

"Answer me!" it appeared that the silence was pissing this guy off more and more.

"Daryl," there was as hushed whisper as Rick stood and came to stand next to Daryl.

"He ain't comin' in here," Shane had clambered down the stairs seemingly unnoticed and was standing in the doorway whispering angrily at the two men.

"Shut it Shane," Rick hissed over his shoulder.

"Daryl," he turned back to my hunter and stood just off to his side so Daryl could look at him easily.

"He's right, he'll kill us all if he comes in here," Rick reasoned.

"He's my brother!" it appeared Daryl wasn't afraid to raised his voice.

"There's my baby brother!" came the cheerful voice from outside, "Come say hello to old Merle,"

"Merle?" I mouthed, utterly amused by the name he had been given. I stifled any more facial expressions as soon as his eyes blazed at me. I simply sat where I was and waited for the decision to be made.

"If he comes in here we are as good as dead, we may as well just throw ourselves into the middle of a city and wait to be eaten! That'd be less fucking torturous!" Shane spat from the other side of the room, his voice clearer and stronger this time around.

"Daryl! Ya get y'ass out here son before I break this door down and come get ya myself!" the aggression in his tone sent shivers down my spine. I didn't know Merle but judging by the petrified looks plastered across each one of the survivors faces, he wasn't the best person out there.

"Daryl!" the door shuddered again underneath Merle's boot.

"Daryl, if y'open the door, it's over, we're through. Ya need to consider the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few," apparently Dale felt it was his place to interject.

"Back off old man! Don't give me this bullshit story of the needs of the many, I didn't see the needs of the many comin' into your decision when ya went back and risked all our lives to save that suicidal bitch!" Daryl growled, pointing angrily at Andrea who glared back at him, matching the menace in his voice with her expression.

"Y'open that door, don't be expectin' to come back in here! Y'do this, y'as good as dead to us," Shane piped up again.

"Shane! Shut the fuck up! We have a duty here to save as many people as we can!" Rick chastised.

"No! We don't have no god damn duties any more Rick! We have a duty to keep ourselves alive and if we let that murdering psychopath in here we're all gone!" the tension in the room was so heavy it was suffocating. All the while they were arguing Merle was pounding on the door yelling obscenities at us all.

No one seemed to want to make any move about it, it appeared that there was a divide, Dale, Shane, Glenn and, by default, Maggie, wanted nothing to do with Merle and figured he was better left out there to die. Rick, Carol, Andrea and Lori seemed to think that everyone deserved a chance at survival regardless of how crazy they may appear. Daryl seemed to be completely lost as to what decision he should make. He was pacing back and forth, stopping every so often to listen to the angered yells from his brother outside then look at me with utter confusion on his rugged features.

"Let him in," everyone turned to look at T-Dog standing in the entrance to the room, his face was tense and his body twitched slightly at the words he had spoken.

"What?" came the astonished gasp from Shane.

"I said let him in, he doesn't deserve to die, same as he didn't deserve to be left on that roof," T-Dog's words had a finality to them that even I didn't want to test. Though the roof comment had me completely stumped.

"Y'know he'll kill ya right? T-Dog, he won't show mercy or anything," Dale said from across the room, his eyes wild with disbelief and fear.

"Then that's the punishment we deserve, leavin' him up there like bait," T-Dog seemed to puff out his chest a little, asserting some sort of dominance or acceptance of his soon to be fate, I'm not sure what it was but in those few seconds, everyone seemed to turn back and stare at the door, waiting patiently as if Merle would just waltz right in on cue.

"We ain't doin' this! I ain't dyin' for some redneck hillbilly asshole that wants to kill us!" Shane yelled.

"Who ya callin' redneck ya pansy ass mother fucker! At least us hillbillies would've had the decency to save someone trapped on a roof top bein' glared at by walkers!" Merle spat back from the other side of the door.

"I don't think ya would have! I mean hell, ya talkin' shit about killin' us ain't ya?" Shane retorted.

"I wasn't talkin' nothin' about doin' that to ya, that was what y'all decided I was gonna do!" Merle yelled causing everyone to stop and consider what he had just said. There was a tense silence that followed as everyone thought about what had been said.

"Open the door," came Daryl's softly spoken words. Everyone looked at him for a second then back at Rick who narrowed his eyes and weighed up the options then nodded in agreement.

"Open the door," Rick affirmed, and without another argument, or a whimper of disobedience, Dale, T-Dog, Rick and Daryl began to pull down the planks of wood that separated us from Merle Dixon.

2


	27. Don't worry love

Authors note: As usual I cannot thank you all enough for the awesome reviews you all give me, seriously it makes me happier than you guys can ever understand to know that there are people out there not only reading my work but enjoying it as well! Keep the reviews coming guys, I love reading them all. Things are about to get heavy ladies and gents, hang on to your seats!

Light and love always

xxx

E

**Chapter 27**

Have you ever been in a movie theatre when there is a really intense, heart stopping moment happening on screen and all of the people around you are holding one big collective breath?

Well, That's what this room was like. Except I had a feeling this collective breath was not in anticipation of anything, but more out of fear that if anyone so much as made a noise they'd be gunned down where they stood. The boys pealed the final plank off the door and took a few steps backwards giving the door the room it needed to swing open. There was a long, silent pause before the door slowly creaked open and moonlight flooded into the room, Merle's long, single handed shadow baring down like the grim reaper himself.

"Well, well, well," he said with a crooked smile as he took a step into the house. No one dared to speak, it was almost like the black plague had slithered into our tiny abode.

"What the hell y'all doin' holed up in here for?" he asked looking around at each one of the uncertain, scared faces. "It's such a beautiful night outside!" he cackled.

"Oh," he seemed to stop when his eyes caught mine. "What do we have here?" he walked towards me slowly.

"Merle! Y'touch her and so help me I'll cut y'other hand off too," Daryl hissed at his brother stepping forwards menacingly.

"Easy there little brother, I'm just gettin' acquainted with the newest member of this little barrage of hopeless suckers," he said looking at Daryl over his shoulder before turning back to me. I slowly stood up, keeping his gaze as he walked towards me. It was almost how I imagine a velociraptor would have antagonized and toyed with its food before devouring it. He had that hunger, that menace in his eyes, and yet for some reason, I couldn't look away.

"What's y'name then little miss?" he whispered, licking his lips in the most seedy, disturbing way I had ever seen.

"Alice," I said, my voice flat, expressionless and my face a steely glare to match. He wasn't going to intimidate me. Hell, he was just a slightly older, slightly bigger, less handsome version of his little brother surely.

"Oh, like Alice in Wonderland," he mocked as he took a step closer to me, looking me up and down hungrily. I kept my eyes glued on him and stood stock still.

"More like Alice in horror land," I quipped tilting my head to the side as he edged around me slowly.

"Oh, she's a funny one little brother," he barked loudly with a laugh. The others flinched at the sudden peak in sound but I kept my body rigid.

"She's more than just funny Merle," Daryl whispered almost inaudibly.

"OH! Now wait one little minute here!" Merle half yelled, stopping dead in his tracks and turning around to look at Daryl. Everyone stopped completely still, the look that crossed this rednecks face was something I had never seen before. It was almost a mixture of pleasure and sheer sickness.

"Do y'have a little crush Darylina?" Merle whispered after a second, lowering his head a little and batting his eyelids like a shy little girl.

"I didn't say that," Daryl snapped.

"I don't think ya have to say it baby brother," Merle took a step sideways until he was standing behind me his chest pressed against my back and placed his hand on my shoulder lightly, dragging his fingertips across my neck and moving my hair out of the way. Daryl's jaw clenched so tightly that I was sure he was going to break it in half. I focused on him intensely and didn't shift my gaze, trying desperately to separate myself from this whole sick, twisted little world.

"Don't do anything rash Merle, let's just talk," Rick interjected.

"Shut it law man, I'll get to ya in a minute," he spat. He smelled as bad as the walkers outside and his hand was rough and calloused in such an awful way that made me wonder what it was he had done to become this messed up.

"Remember..." he whispered at Daryl, "remember Amanda Hersted?" he wrapped his free arm around my waist and pulled me back against him. I suppressed the urge to scream or cry or do anything other than stand completely rigid.

"Don't y'fucking dare!" Daryl screamed raising his crossbow at the two of us.

"Easy, Daryl, easy," he pulled me closer to him and pushed my head to the side so my neck was exposed. I pursed my lips and stared at Daryl desperately trying to keep my breathing as steady as I could, even though my heart was pounding at two hundred miles a second. Everyone was staring wide eyed and terrified at the exchange happening before them. It seemed our little sanctuary had rapidly turned into hell itself.

"Do y'remember her Daryl?" he asked again, his breath hot and putrid against my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut for a second and opened them again, keeping my gaze on Daryl.

"Well?" Merle pressed. Daryl lowered his crossbow angrily and clenched his jaw tighter.

"Of course I remember her," he managed to growl through clenched teeth.

"Maybe," Merle lowered his head a little so his lips were mere inches from my neck, sending cold, horrible shockwaves rippling up and down my spine.

"Maybe I should do the same to this little one as I did to her?" he kept his eyes fixed on Daryl as he gently pressed his lips to my neck.

"Don't y'fucking dare!" Daryl charged forwards, animalistic rage flashing all over his face.

"Daryl!" Rick yelled as he and Shane both lunged forwards and grabbed him around the arms holding him back. In the same second Merle had his handless arm wrapped around my waist and a knife pressed to my throat with his other hand.

"Tisk Tisk lil brother," he patronized, "I didn't kill little Amanda, but if ya push me I'll kill this one where she stands," I pressed my head back, my teeth clenched and my chest rising and falling quickly as my breath became more and more unsteady.

"Merle! This is different this time! I swear on Mom's grave y'do to her what y'did to Amanda, I'll kill ya, I'll feed ya to the fuckin walkers!" Daryl screamed thrashing against the two men holding him back.

"Do y'wanna know what I did to Amanda?" Merle whispered in my ear, once again sending cold, unpleasant shivers down my spine. I glanced around the room at the scene before me. Carl had his face hurried into Lori's chest, she was biting her lip as she gripped Carl to her tightly her knuckles white with the pressure. Carol was curled up against the corner with T-Dog standing in front of her protectively and Dale standing in front of them both. Glenn was crouched down near Lori and Carl holding Maggie who was watching us with her mouth wide open in terror. Andrea was kneeling near Maggie her hands clenched into tight fists as she glared at the scene before her. Shane and Rick were struggling to subdue a rage filled Daryl who was breathing heavily and thrashing around trying to get at his brother desperately, his crossbow laying on the floor by his feet as he kicked and fought against the two men.

"What?" I breathed, my voice coming out much steadier than I had imagined it would have.

"Well," he looked up at his brother who fell completely still then back down at me, his mouth so close to my ear that I could practically feel the menace seeping through every one of his words.

"Daryl, my darling little brother, was in love with Amanda. So," he chuckled a sick, twisted laugh.

"Y'wanna tell her Daryl?" he called out almost comically. There was nothing but silence that followed.

"No? I'll tell her then," he cackled again.

"So, I, being the lovin', carin' big brighter that I am, I fucked her!" There was a chorus of whispered gasps and averted eyes as he blurted out the disgraceful recollection.

"But don't worry love," he lowered his voice so that only I could hear as he trailed the tip of the blade down my chest to just above my breasts.

"This won't hurt a bit."


	28. Silent night

Authors note: I've said it all before. Y'all know I love reading the reviews and love seeing that you are enjoying it and what not so keep reviewing and I'll keep updating! X

Also this chapter is going to get a little bit racial and remarks will be made. I can assure you, the comments made are not my own beliefs and I am not trying to offend anyone at all, I'm simply getting into character... And we all know what sort of character Merle is.

Thanks again for reading everyone!

Love and light always

xxx

E

**Chapter 28**

It took all the energy I could possibly muster not to start sobbing and break down entirely.

"Don't fuckin' touch her! Merle! I'll fuckin' kill ya!" Daryl screamed thrashing against Shane and Rick again. I watched him for a while before closing my eyes and trying to stop my body from trembling uncontrollably.

"Y'shakin love? Y'aint scared are ya?" Merle crooned his head around to look at my face a little.

"Well?" he pressed. I bit my lip a little and took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Answer me!" he pressed the knife down a little harder and I gasped a little as the tip of the blade pierced my skin.

"No," I breathed, opening my eyes.

"Well y'should be," he laughed.

"Why?" I mentally kicked myself for asking such a stupid question.

"Why?" he bellowed.

"Merle!" Daryl screamed again.

"Because baby doll, I got a dick like a fuckin' horse!" he burst out into a sick fit of laughter.

"Just stop this man! She ain't done nothin' wrong, stop fuckin' with us," Merle stopped laughing instantly and the room went silent.

"Ah, the little nigger boy, I was wonderin' when y'was gonna speak up," his voice seemed to drop and his grip on the knife grew tighter.

"C'mon man, let's just talk," T-dog said, his voice calm and even.

"What'd'ya wanna talk about nigger?" Merle patronized.

"Stop usin' that word," Lori growled.

"Lori!" Rick hushed her angrily.

"Merle, I didn't mean to drop that key man," T-dog began, "I slipped, honestly, we came back for ya we did."

"Why! Cause y'all felt guilty 'bout leavin' me there?" he pressed the knife a little deeper against my skin and I bit my lip, suppressing a yelp.

"I came back for ya bro! We came to find ya! Get y'outta there," Daryl spoke quickly, reacting to the pain filled expression on my face.

"As y'can see, I didn't need ya fuckin' help," Merle spat his grip around my stomach tightening in anger.

"Let her go man, this ain't got nothin' to do with her," Rick said raising his hands in a non-threatening way.

"Fuck ya lawman! It was you that locked me on that dang roof anyway! Shoulda killed ya the second I walked in here," he spat.

"Please Merle, let her go," T-dog begged.

"Stop talkin'!" he yelled removing the knife from my neck and pointing it at T-dog.

"C'mon man, I'm tryin' to tell ya I'm sorry about all this," T-dog continued, taking a step forwards.

"Sorry don't bring my hand back! One more word outta ya and I'll put this knife through ya dang head boy!"

It appeared to me that Merle was being backed into a corner, he was losing the control he had over this little contingent. He seemed to be losing his patience and becoming less rational, though I wasn't sure that was really possible. I kept my mouth shut and simply stared at the space on the floor between Daryl and I and hoped that this whole thing would be over soon.

"What do ya want Merle?" Shane asked suddenly after a long silence.

"Huh?" Merle returned the knife to my throat and stared at Shane.

"What the hell d'ya want with us? Ya survived this long on y'own with only one dang hand, what the hell do y'want with us now?" there was an edge to Shane's voice that unsettled me. I didn't know entirely what he was capable of, but after seeing his actions at the school... I wouldn't put anything passed him.

"Justice." was the response he received.

"For what?" Shane queried.

"For what! For what?" Merle shouted, "for my god damn, mother fuckin' hand! For bein' left to die on that mother fuckin' roof top! For havin' to cauterize my own damn wound! For havin' to survive out there on my own with fuck all protection or anythin'!" With every hate filled reason he gave, he pressed the blade of the knife against my chest, I could feel a trickle of blood oozing out of the gash he had caused. Thankfully for me, it didn't feel like it was too deep of a wound.

"Come on! We came back for ya! We went back into that zombie infested wasteland of a city and tried to save y'ass!" Daryl reasoned.

"Doesn't mean shit little brother, y'all left to start with, left me there over night with them things banging on the door, growlin' and snappin' at me like I was the only damn food they would eat for years!" Merle spat back.

"We tried man! That don't count for shit to ya?" Daryl spat, aggravated by the disdain and attitude of Merle.

I watched Daryl closely, even though Merle was standing there with a knife to my neck, piercing my skin and accusing everyone of doing awful things, he still wanted his brother to accept him, to acknowledge him. I had no idea half of what was going on, most of the stories they were telling me was alien, but then again I guess that's what happens when you stumble upon a group of stragglers like this really. Everyone has a past after all.

"What means shit to me baby brother is that ya seem to be happy to just tag along with this bunch of assholes. I mean come on bro, ya think ya worth anythin' to them? Some unlawful piece o' shit that leaves a man to die on a roof, his friend who's been fuckin' his wife behind his back," my eyes shot up to Lori who went pale and turned to look at Rick, her eyes wide. Rick clenched his jaw and remained staring forwards. Shane simply gawked at Merle and I, guilt and sheer amazement plastered across his features. I had a good feeling that was a conversation the three of them would be having as soon as this whole debacle was over.

"A nigger, a fuckin' Asian boy and two slutty little women that can't even stay faithful to their friends or of anyone else for that matter, this? This is what ya hangin around with now?" he pointed to each person as he made his comments. He almost seemed to be enjoying the racist, sexist remarks he was making.

"Now that is enough!" Rick yelled. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Merle cocked his eyebrow at the sudden assertion of power from Rick.

"Got somethin' ya wanna share with the group lawman?" there was a silence that followed for a second. Rick seemed to contemplate his words before finally responding.

"We've all been through hell and back, _all_ of us, now ain't the time to be fightin' each other," everyone was silent as they listened to his little speech, surprisingly enough even Merle was listening.

"We got walkers on our asses every step we take, no where in this place is safe, people we know," he looked at Maggie, "people we love," he turned to look at Carol who let out a soft sob, "are infected. It's a shit hole of a world out there and we may or may not be the only ones left around here, but be that as it may, we can't go around killin' off or maiming each other. We could very well be the last hope for our civilization."

There was a long pause as everyone contemplated what Rick had just said. No one had really openly and outwardly acknowledged that we could very well be the last living humans on this godforsaken stretch of earth. It seemed to be weighing heavily on everyone, it was something I know I had thought about and I was sure everyone else had thought about it too, but no one was prepared to hear it.

"Tell me why," Merle spoke slowly and quietly after a moment, "I shouldn't kill the lot of ya right here and let ya supposed God sort y'out," he pressed the knife back into my chest harder and I couldn't help but yelp at the sudden shot of pain it sent through my body.

"Stop it man ya hurtin' he..." suddenly the pressure in my chest was gone. There was no sting of cold metal where the blade was, I looked up just as a whisper of air brushed passed the side of my face, in the split second it took for me to realize what Merle had done, it was already too late. My eyes went wide as I stared at the scene before me.

"Mommy!" Carl squealed and buried his face into his mothers shoulder an began to cry.

"What have ya done?" Shane whispered.

I stood there with my mouth hanging open, a few lone tears finally trickling down my face, T-Dog's body crumpled to the floor with a thud, the blade lodged clean between his eyes, a thin trickle of blood slowly traced its way across his face and pooled around his head as he lay lifeless on the cold, wooden floor. There wasn't a single sound in the entire world at that moment I was sure of it.


	29. Sanctuary

Authors note: As always guys, keep the reviews coming, loving the reactions I'm getting from you guys, hopefully I can keep it up.

Light and love always.  
>E<br>Xxx

**Chapter 29**

No one dared to move for fear of someone else being killed.

"Y'all are lucky, I coulda got him in the heart and waited till he came back and left y'all to deal with his sorry ass," Merle spat, kicking me forwards, I lost my balance and landed, hard, on my hands and knees in front of Daryl. He didn't miss a beat but knelt down in front of me and checked me over and a knelt back onto my heels. Merle ignored the exchange and walked away from the two of us, heading towards Rick.  
>"You and me though lawman, we still got some outstandin' shit to be lookin' after," his voice was menacing and low as he walked towards Rick and Shane.<br>"Just stop it! Stop this bullshit Merle!" Daryl barked.  
>"Fuck off Daryl, ya sidin' with them over ya big brother? Jesus man, hasn't this shit taught y'anythin'?" Merle stopped short and turned to look over at Daryl who was kneeling next to me with one hand resting on my back gently.<br>"It ain't like that man, y'know it ain't," Daryl responded, giving me a sideways glance before standing up. I sat back and crossed my legs as I took a deep breath and tried to ignore the stabbing pain in my chest.  
>"What is it like then little brother?" Merle asked, his voice oozing with sarcasm.<br>"Man ya fuckin' left! We came back to that dang rooftop to find ya sorry ass and ya left! If ya had just waited another few hours we woulda been there! Hell, I made them all come back and get ya, Rick was the first one to step up and say he wanted to help, T-Dog was the same man. These people have been keepin' me alive. Shit it ain't like it once were!" Daryl was pacing back and forth, his body rigid and tense as his voice got louder with every frantic statement he made.  
>"We ain't fuckin' colors or religious nuts or anythin' anymore. None of that shit matters now! We gotta try and stick together man and hey here's a thought, fuck ya! If ya gonna come up in here and start fightin' me and mine after all the shit we been through then get y'ass back out that door and go survive on y'own! Ya talkin' shit 'bout bein' out there and findin' it easy as anythin' to look after yaself then fuck off and go back out there man, we don't need no more shit happenin' to us!" Daryl was shaking uncontrollably, his voice was louder than I had ever heard before and it felt like his very body was pulsating with a burning rage.<p>

The whole room was silent. Merle was staring at his little brother, weighing up the options that he had, it was almost like you could see the his brain ticking over and deciding what it was he would choose to do.  
>"Ya gonna side with them little bro, forget all the shit that happened when we were kids. All them memories and shit just gone?" Merle was completely calm. That unnerved me.<br>"It ain't about that anymore man, and y'know it aint," Daryl replied, his voice dropping but his body still tense and alert.  
>"What the hell is it about little brother? Why the hell are ya betrayin' me for this bunch of fucks?" Merle raised his voice again.<br>"I ain't betrayin' ya bro! I still got ya back, I always have ya know that. But these people ain't all bad, ya just need to give them a chance and I guarantee y'all will see that too!" Daryl yelled back.  
>"Please Merle, you've done enough damage here as it is," Rick reasoned quietly indicating the lifeless body of T-Dog slumped on the floor.<br>"And what do I get outta let y'all go huh?" Merle said, stalking over to the body, his eyes never leaving Rick.  
>"What do ya mean?" Shane retorted turning so he was facing Merle straight on.<br>"Well," Merle bend down and yanked the knife out of T-Dog's skull with a slight squelch, "if I let y'all go, and don't do any more damage as ya say, what do I get outta that agreement? Cause to me, it just seems like I don't get no dang justice here or anythin' else for that matter," he continued, wiping the blade on his jeans casually as if he had just killed a squirrel. There was a tense pause as Merle's words hung in the room.  
>"Sanctuary," Rick said softly.<br>"What?" came the joint response of Lori, Shane, Dale and Glenn.  
>"Yeah," Rick nodded, his eyes trailing across the room at the group of disheveled and distressed faces staring expectantly back at him.<br>"What ya talkin' 'bout lawman?" Merle drawled.  
>"If you agree to have a calm discussion and remain civil, polite, help out around these parts when we need ya and swear ya won't kill any more of us, we'll offer ya a place to stay, somewhere safe where we can protect each other and live together, try and make some sort of plan to survive this mess," Rick was so calm and collected with the offer that no one could really argue.<p>

Merle stood in thought for a moment, contemplating the option. Personally, I would have thought that the very prospect of protection and what not would have been an easy choice. Apparently Merle was not as like minded as I would have thought.  
>"There's still the issue of what ya did to me back on that rooftop lawman, I ain't just gonna forget that, ya left me there to die," Merle stalked across the room, his boots clunking loudly with every step he took.<br>"I understand that," Rick reasoned, "we ain't enemies though. Y'understand that the only reason I locked y'up there was because y'was makin' too much noise. Those walkers would've killed us all if ya had kept firin' ya rifle like ya had been."  
>"Don't make no difference lawman," Merle hissed, "Ya meant to be an officer, uphold the civil rights and all that bullshit, that means y'aint meant to leave someone chained to a pipe and wait for them to be eaten alive." I hated to admit it, but the man had a point.<br>"What's fair punishment then? In your eyes?" Rick asked after a pause. Merle's eyes dragged across the room to Daryl who was standing near me, his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. If hadn't have known better I was sure he was snarling and growling at his sibling.  
>"An eye for an eye," Merle said simply.<br>"NO!" Lori screeched standing up and running to Rick's side.  
>"Lori, go see Carl," Rick whispered under his breath pushing her back towards the small boy cowering by the wall. Merle seemed to realize that there were more people in the room at that point and turned menacingly towards the little bundle of fear in the corner.<br>"Or," he dragged the word out, his face contorting into a twisted smile.  
>"Leave him out of this," Shane said menacingly.<br>"Back off Shane, this ain't ya fight," Rick growled, shoving his friend in the chest a little harder than was needed.  
>"How about we make this even," Merle looked from Rick, to Lori, down to Carl then over to Daryl.<p>

What the hell was he thinking?

Everyone fell silent, all eyes staring at him waiting with bated breath to hear the next obscene idea that would escape his sick, twisted lips.  
>"Daryl," he turned to face the two of us as I staggered to my feet uneasily. Daryl didn't move, didn't respond just stood motionless and watched his brother evenly.<br>"Ya wanna show me that ya still got my back little brother?" Merle was playing a dangerous game here. The vast majority of this group were unhinged enough to take him down at any moment if they saw him as a threat, Daryl included.  
>"How," Daryl said flatly.<br>"An eye for an eye little brother," Merle said raising his eyebrow and stepping back so that Carl was clearly in Daryl's line of sight. Daryl tensed, I was sure he stopped breathing when he connected the dots and realised what it was that Merle was suggesting.  
>"What ya sayin'?" he asked.<br>"They left ya brother there to die man, on a rooftop in the middle of a walker infested hell hole. I cut my dang hand off to survive! It's only fair that someone here loses a hand to make up for mine," he narrowed his eyebrows and glared at us.  
>"No! Y'ain't touchin' my boy!" Lori all but dove at Carl and wrapped her arms protectively around him.<br>"What the hell are ya askin' me to do Merle! Cut the boys hand off?" Daryl spar angrily. He seemed as surprised and disgusted as everyone else.  
>"Ya know damn right what I'm askin' of ya brother," Merle responded. A sick grimacing smile crossing over his lips.<br>"I ain't doin' that man," Daryl said putting his hands up in an 'I surrender' sort of movement.  
>"Ya got one option boy, ya either do as I tell ya," he looked over Daryl's shoulder at me and took a deep breath, "Or ya little whore of a girl gets it," he drew the gun he had holstered on his thigh up and pointed it straight at me.<br>"Don't!" Daryl stepped to the side slightly and put himself between me and Merle's line of fire.  
>"Do it then," Merle insisted.<br>"Daryl! Don't ya dare!" Shane hissed from his position next to Rick. That tension was back in the room again, weighing heavily on everyone.  
>"Fuck ya! Y'ain't tellin' me what to do," Daryl barked only glancing over at Shane.<br>"Please Daryl," Rick started.  
>"Shut the fuck up!" Daryl yelled, pacing back and forth a little.<br>"Do it brother, show me that ya still got my back," Merle cocked the gun a little and walked a few steps forward.  
>"Don't touch her man," Daryl growled looking at me then back at Merle.<br>"I won't, as long as ya do what I told ya to," he insisted.  
>"Please Daryl, don't do this," Lori begged, clutching Carl to her even tighter.<br>"Daddy, please," Carl began to whimper and cry even harder than before.  
>"What sort of sick shit is this anyway? Ya can't ask someone to do that to a little boy!" Andrea piped up from her position next to Carol.<br>"Shut it, " Shane pointed at her and glared until she finally gave him a scolding look and relaxed back against the wall.

Daryl was pacing back and forth, his eyes darting across the floorboards so quickly I was sure they were going to burst out of his head. He brought his thumb nail up to his mouth and bit down on it awkwardly. His other hand trailing over his machete on his thigh.  
>"Do it!" Merle persisted, his voice louder as he took a few steps closer to me. I took a step back, shifting my weight from the ball of my right foot to my left foot.<br>"Daryl, don't," Shane countered.  
>"Please, please don't hurt my boy," Lori kept repeating over and over her voice low and full of fear, tears prickling at the edges of her eyes as she clutched Carl trying to calm his hysterical crying down.<br>"Daryl, I understand ya position but please don't hurt my boy," Rick begged.  
>"Do it now Daryl or she gets it!" Merle pushed.<br>"Me or them bro make ya choice!" his voice was louder again.  
>"Everyone just shut the fuck up would ya!" Daryl yelled at the top of his voice. He turned to look at each one of the petrified faces in front of him before slowly tuning to face me, his eyes full of confusion, concern and a whole host of other unchartered emotions. Merle raised his eyebrows expectantly and waited for Daryl's movement.<br>"Enough playin' around, either do it or she dies," Merle said finally. Daryl shook his head defiantly, his face contorting into a thin lipped grimace before he swiftly turned, unsheathed his machete and charged towards Carl.


	30. Agreement

Authors note: As always a massive thank you to all that read and review. It's kept me writing as long as I have been. This story is drawing to a close, I have a feeling there's only a few more chapters left to be written. I cannot begin to thank you all enough for the encouragement and fantastic things you have written =) hope you guys enjoy it.

**Chapter 30**

In the split second that Daryl took to get to Carl, Lori had covered his entire body with hers, shielding him from the crazed hunter. Rick and Shane both moved at the same time, though Daryl's actions were not at all what anyone had anticipated.  
>Everything after that happened so quickly I almost didn't see it.<br>Daryl stopped an inch in front of Lori and Carl, turned on his heel and with everything he had, threw the machete straight at Merle. In that same moment Shane all but rugby tackled me to the floor with a loud band just as Daryl's machete lodged itself into Merle's thigh. I looked up from under Shane's arm just as Merle's finger clicked back on the trigger as a knee jerk reaction to the wound, sending a bullet exploding right into the space where my body had been only moments before. I looked over at Shane with my mouth hanging open and shook my head in disbelief.  
>"Stop fuckin' with them Merle," Daryl called striding over to Merle's crumpled body on the floor and kicking the run away from his hand.<br>"Ya stabbed me!" Merle yelled in disgust as he gripped his thigh tenderly.  
>"Ya don't get to come in here and fuck with these people," Daryl barked resting his foot on his brothers calf and yanking the blade from his thigh in one swift motion.<br>"I'll kill ya!" Merle yelled as he agonizingly hauled himself to his feet and took a feeble lunge at Daryl. Daryl side stepped his crazed brother easily and watched him crumple to the floor again.  
>"Stop hurtin' people. Merle this shit ain't right, I know y'were out there on ya own and whatever else but shit man, ya don't have to do this," Daryl reasoned.<br>"Fuck ya! The lot of ya!" Merle hissed as he spat right on the toe of Daryl's boot. Daryl shook his head and clenched his jaw a little harder before landing one swift kick to the side of Merle's head, rendering him unconscious.  
>"Patch his leg up then leave the fucker outside," he said turning to Maggie and Glenn. Maggie nodded slightly, her eyes still wide with fear and slowly made her way over to her backpack that was propped against the wall on the other side of the room.<p>

He turned to where I was sitting on the floor, Shane had already gone over to check on Lori, Carl and Rick and I was left staring at the unconscious, unmoving body of Merle in front of me.  
>"C'mon," Daryl whispered, offering me his hand.<br>"He's seen a lot huh?" I said cocking my head a little and looking at the withered and tattered skin on Merles hardened features.  
>"What d'ya mean?" Daryl asked, looking down at his brother in disgust.<br>"Just look at him for a minute," I whispered, edging closer to him. I couldn't help but notice the thick, heavy callouses that spotted his hand. The stump where his right hand once sat was covered in hardened blood and third degree blackened burns that looked like the beginnings of an infection was taking over. His face was covered in dirt and scratches, dried blood caked his cheeks and forehead and his lips were so dry that it looked like a scene from the middle of the Sahara Desert.  
>"He's a fuckin' psycho, a cheat, a sick, twisted, shameless fuck," Shane said through gritted teeth as walked over to us.<br>"Shane! Enough!" Rick barked from across the room. Shane fell silent, but remained staring at Merle angrily, his eyes narrowed so far it was virtually impossible to see his eyes.  
>"C'mon," Daryl grabbed my hand and hauled me up onto my feet just as Maggie came over and began cleaning Merle's leg.<p>

"Tell me, what do you want to do?" I was sitting on Daryl's lap in the bedroom upstairs. Thankfully everyone had given us enough privacy to have a 'talk' and sort the issue of Merle out.  
>"He's my brother, and we left him for dead once before," he trailed his hands down over my bare back and across to my chest, lightly touching the already scabbed wound on my skin.<br>"But he ain't allowed to just come in here and start hurtin' y'all," he planted a gentle kiss on my neck and shook his head slightly.  
>"Then we come up with some rules," I said with a shrug.<br>"Merle don't work with rules," Daryl sighed leaning back against the headboard of the bed.  
>"Merle doesn't seem to work with a lot of things," I replied with a sigh.<br>"He can either be a part of this, or he can just go back out there," Daryl said looking down at the sheets and shifting a little.  
>"Ya sure that's what ya wanna be tellin' him when he wakes up?" I asked resting my hands on his stomach lightly and tilting my head down so our eyes were level.<br>"I ain't got no other option, I ain't lettin' him hurt y'again," he placed his hands on either side of my neck and pulled me forwards until our lips were touching.

"Hey," he whispered as he pulled away just enough and rested his forehead against mine.  
>"Hey yaself," I replied closing my eyes softly.<br>"I love you," he whispered. I couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips.  
>"Say it again," I said so quietly I wasn't sure if I had spoken the words or thought them.<br>"I love you," he said again after a pause.  
>"I love you too," I replied opening my eyes and kissing him again this time a little more forcefully.<p>

We didn't get much sleep that night at all.

"It seems secure, we just need to clear it," I heard Glenn's voice trailing up the stairs as Daryl and I came down the following morning.  
>"Mornin'," Rick said with a nod as we entered the living room.<br>"Mornin'," I replied rubbing my eye sleepily.  
>"Where's Merle?" Daryl asked from beside me. I looked around the room and gave a confused shake of my head as I realised he was no where to be seen.<br>"We made an agreement," Shane said sullenly from the doorway.  
>"What sort of agreement?" Daryl asked, his voice ice cold.<br>"He promised not to hurt anyone, on the premise that we protect him and keep him out of harms way," Rick said, his back still to Shane. Something wasn't right.  
>"What else?" Daryl asked bluntly.<br>"He's been given my car," Shane said with a slight hint of remorse to his tone.  
>"He's also been given a share of the food and water and is allowed to carry his own weapons," Rick replied. I wasn't entirely sure about the gun side of things but I figured it was better than the alternative.<br>"Also," Glenn spoke now, his eyes darting between Rick and Daryl.  
>"Also?" Daryl said through clenched teeth.<br>"We found an abandoned prison just a few miles from here, it seems secure, though there are a few walkers hanging about, but," Glenn gulped.  
>"But what?" Rick turned to look at Glenn front on.<br>"Merle gets his own block," Shane finished, tilting his cap up so we could see his face easier.  
>"What?" Rick gasped.<br>"We made the agreement this morning, we went out huntin' and stumbled upon the place. I took Merle with us because I didn't trust the sack of shit with a house full of sleepin' people," Shane leaned against the frame of the door and folded his arms.  
>"A whole block though?" Rick asked.<br>"That's the deal, he'll help protect us and whatever else needs to be done, so long as he has his own block in the prison and his own weapons and car," Shane said with a shrug.  
>"Doesn't seem like such a bad idea to me," Dale came out of one of the bedrooms and into the living room.<br>"How so?" Rick asked angrily.  
>"He stays away from us, helps keep watch and whatnot, I'm sure there's enough food and space in that prison to keep everyone safe," Dale said with a shrug.<br>"What's your take on this whole thing Daryl?" Rick asked suddenly, turning to face the two of us. I looked at Daryl for a long moment. His eyes were narrowed and he was staring intensely at a spot on the floor. His arms were folded against his chest and his whole body seemed to be rigid, his mind ticking over all of the possibilities that this little agreement could produce.  
>"I think," he said after a long wait. "Y'all shouldn't trust him. I mean, I know he's my brother and whatever but hell," Daryl looked up at the small contingent in front of him.<br>"He'll kill any one of y'all at the drop of the hat, ya give him the chance," and without so much as another word Daryl walked out the front door, grabbing his crossbow as he left.


	31. Time to go

Authors note: as always you're reviews keep me writing and I love reading what you all think. Keep them coming. I promise this won't end too horrifically =P

**Chapter 31**

I slipped back upstairs to make sure everything was ready to go. I hadn't realised that the idea wasn't to stay here permanently. I knew that it wasn't exactly the safest of places to be holed up in but, I didn't really know what I expected, moving on to somewhere new this quickly wasn't really what I had in mind. I walked around the top story a little and bided my time, I figured we wouldn't be moving for a few hours and I may as well make the most of the time I had. I walked into the bedroom Daryl and I had been in and pulled out my camera from my backpack and sat down cross legged on the bed. I'd taken some photos of Daryl the night before whilst he was sleeping and a few while he wasn't. It had been so dark in the room that the only source of light we had had was a candle and the moonlight and because of that all of the photos had a warm, yellow glow to it. I allowed myself a few moments pause of one of the photos of Daryl fast asleep. It was the first time I had seen him so calm and at ease since I had met him. I smiled a little enforce switching off the camera and putting it back into my bag. I looked around the room and began grabbing all of the clothes and few pieces we had lying around the room and stuffing them into my backpack then headed back down the stairs. I stopped dead still a few steps down though. Turns out I wasn't the only one that had anticipated staying here a little longer.

"Ya didn't even talk this over with me!" Rick barked.

"Oh please, y'ain't the dang ruler of this little group man! C'mon brother, we have to think about these people. This place doesn't exactly offer us much protection, that prison over there, man that has food and power and everythin' we need to wait this whole mess out!" Shane countered.

"Ya tellin' me that we moved a family on from this home so we could only stay here a few mother fuckin' _days _then move on!" I heard the clunking of heavy footsteps then a prolonged silence.

"It's not our problem Rick," Shane said almost inaudibly.

"How can ya say that!" Rick yelled.

"They were in a house that wasn't theirs to begin with! They had no right to be here," Shane yelled back.

"We didn't have to move on a family though! They had children! Young children!" Again, the clunking of boots on the floorboards, pacing back and forth.

"We have a duty to these people," Shane continued, "that's what ya told me." There was a long pause.

"I did say that," Rick's tone sounded defeated.

"Then don't stop me from doin' all I can to save these people. Think about Lori, think about Carl,"

"Don't ya fuckin' dare talk about my family! They ain't y'problem! They're _my_ damned family and _I'm _the one that's lookin' out for their best interests! Do _not _make me have this conversation with ya." There was a tense silence that followed and then footsteps and finally the click of the front door being closed. I waited a few more minutes before walking down the remainder of the stairs and out into the living room. The room was completely clear, save for my crossbow and machete sitting by the front door. I looked around the room, readjusting my backpack before taking a deep, shuddering breath and heading outside to see where everyone else was.

"We're movin' out of here in five minutes, have everythin' packed and ready to go or consider it as good as gone," Shane was standing on the step of the RV speaking to everyone. Andrea was nodding and everyone was already dispersing to gather their things from the house, Dale was inside the RV clearing out some space so that people could store some of their bags and what not. I couldn't see Daryl or Merle for that matter anywhere. I stood on the porch and crooned my head around seeing if they were maybe getting in some last minute private brother time before heading off.

"They went to check out the prison again," I half jumped when Glenn's gentle voice floated through the air.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said adjusting the pack on his back.

"Don't worry about it," I said waving my hand in an easy way.

"I..." Glenn cut himself short and looked at the porch rail intently.

"You?" I questioned.

"I'm sorry about everythin' that happened here, with your family and all that, it... It must have really sucked," Glenn glanced up at me sideways then back down at his hands.

"Thanks," I whispered. I liked Glenn. He seemed to understand things in context and relation to the rest of the world and what was going on. It sort of surprised me, considering that he was the only one that had apologized for the whole house/family thing. I didn't really know how to act to the whole situation, let alone know how to feel about killing my father and half of his family.

"We got a problem ladies and gentlemen," Daryl walked back up to the house, his crossbow hanging at his side as he came to a halt in front of the group.

"What d'ya mean a problem?" Shane asked jumping off of the RV and striding towards Daryl angrily.

"Calm down police boy," Merle said appearing behind Daryl. Everyone seemed to tense up as soon as Merle came into the picture.

"What's the issue?" Rick asked a little more calmly.

"The place is over run by walkers," Daryl said with an easy shrug.

"How bad?" Glenn asked from his position next to me.

"The inside of the place seems pretty clear, the outside," Daryl exchanged a look with Merle.

"The outside, not so much," Merle finished.

"So, any ideas of how to get in there?" I asked looking around at the disjointed and disheveled group surrounding me.

"I got an idea," Merle said with a disturbingly excited grin on his face.

"This'll be good," Shane scoffed putting his hands on his hips and raising his eyebrow expectantly at the brothers.

Essentially the plan that Daryl and Merle had come up with involved using Daryl and I on the bike as bait to lead the zombies away from the prison while the others used the RV and the cars to get inside and clear everything out. Turns out, it was the best idea any of us could come up with. Rick and Dale had had some concerns about Daryl and I going, though we all eventually agreed that we were the two that had the best hunting skills and knew how to take care of ourselves out there alone. I'd had no problem and neither had Daryl. Before long we were all cleared up and ready to get out there and start clearing out our new abode.

"Y'ready for this?" Daryl asked walking with me to the bike. I'd left my bag and everything in the RV so that there was as little weight as possible on the bike. I'd strapped all my weapons to my legs and had a rifle instead of my crossbow this time around, for efficiency reasons.

"I don't know quite how bad this whole thing is gonna be," I said looking down at the bike then back at Daryl. For some reason, in that split second, I was glad that I had used one of my memory cards from my camera purely on photos of him. For some unknown reason, I had this sickening, heart wrenching gut feeling that something was going to go horribly, horribly wrong.

"I promise ya, we'll be fine," he placed his hands on my cheeks and kissed me deeply.

He knew me well.

"Enough of that!" Lori said with a laugh coming over to the two of us.

"Hey," I said wrapping my arm around Daryl's waist as his hand went easily around my shoulders.

"Are y'all ready for this?" Lori asked, a look of fear crossing her fine features.

"We're always ready for a hunt," I said with a smile.

"How bad is it out there?" She asked after a long pause.

"Not as bad as ya thinkin' it is," Daryl said simply. Lori simply smiled weakly, nodded and then headed off for the rest of the group.

"Hey," he turned to face me straight on, his hands sliding down to my hips smoothly.

"Hey yaself," I said kissing his cheek lightly.

"I love ya,"

"I love ya too," I beamed at him then, with one final, lingering kiss, we both climbed onto the bike, gave the go signal to the convoy behind us and started on our way.

As we made our way over the crest of the hill my heart stopped, Daryl sure had lied to Lori about it being not as bad as she thought. Limping and sliding agonizingly slowly around the perimeter of the prison were somewhere in the vicinity of around a thousand or so walkers. I gripped at Daryl's shirt a little tighter with one hand and clutched at the gun I had in my other.

"Please, big guy, if y'ever gonna spare us a thought and some protection... Now would be the time," I whispered underneath my breath as we headed down the other side of the hill and into what I can only begin to describe as certain death.


	32. I'll always love you

Authors note: This is it guys, this is the finale, the big finish to something I have loved writing for so long, i'm gonna say this, some of you wont enjoy this, some of you will. Either way, I'd love to know what your final thoughts on this were. As always, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the encouragement you've given me, I've loved writing and readin what y'all have had to say.

Thank you all.

I'm working on another story now too, features Norman and Sean themselves =P if you guys are interested have a look and let me know what ya think. Once again, I can't thank you all enough for the encouragement and awesome stuff you've written to me. I'd truly love to know what you all thought of this whole story and this final chapter.

Thanks guys.

X

Love and light always

xxx

E

**Chapter 32**

"Hey," Daryl yelled over his shoulder at me.

"What's up?" I yelled back, leaning forwards so my head was right next to him.

"Everythin' is goin' to be just fine," Daryl responded, taking his hand off of the handle bars and gripped my thigh briefly before putting his hand back on the handle bars and concentrating on the road ahead.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

We were a few minutes ahead of the rest, by the time Daryl was at the base of the hill the rest of the convoy were only just coming up over the crest. He road almost straight into the middle of the hoard and stopped, the engine of the bike still running.

"Let's do this," I heard him whisper as he revved the engine. The reaction was instantaneous. Almost every single one of the walkers half hanging, half rotting heads cracked around to look at us. I took a shuddering breath then fired a few shots into the hoard taking a few of the more... Decayed looking zombies out easily. Daryl revved the engine one last time and before the onslaught of broken hands and bleeding fingers reached our flesh, Daryl was off and moving slowly away from the prison, with the vast majority of the walkers clunking along behind us.

I chanced a look over my shoulder just in time to see the others driving through the gates of the prison and jumping out of the RV. Soon after I heard a few feint gun shots in the back ground before turning back and focusing on the road in front of us. I fired a few shots in front, clearing the road a little and dropping walkers in front of us easily as Daryl picked his way through the blood soaked, infested bodies that were all but throwing themselves at us.

"Hang on!" I heard Daryl yell as he pulled the bike around and began double backing on the path we had already picked out. I unloaded the rest of the clip in my gun and swapped it for the rifle on my back and slowly started picking off the zombies that were a little further ahead.

"We've got it!" I shouted, pointing at the gate in front of us that was open just far enough for the bike to get through.

"See... I told ya..." Daryl called back over his shoulder. I couldn't help the slight smile that crept across my face as I went back to picking out a path in front of the bike for Daryl to ride through.

We were only a few yards from the gate when I felt the bike lurch sideways suddenly.

"Fuck!" I heard Daryl yell as he struggled to keep the bike upright. He grappled with it for a moment longer until there was a loud, sickening crunching sound and the bike came clean out from underneath us.

"Daryl!" I screamed as I hit the sand covered ground head on and came skidding to a halt on my stomach.

"Daryl!" I screamed scrambling on my hands and knees over to the bike and skidding to a halt next to it.

"Daryl!" I unholstered the other hand gun from my thigh and plugged a few rounds into the on coming hoard as I knelt next to him.

"Go," he was bleeding from the head badly and his ankle was bent at a completely wrong angle.

"I'm not leavin' without ya!" I yelled at him, tugging angrily at his shirt.

"Get outta here! Or else we're both gone! I can't move, I've broken somethin' in my back I can't feel it!" he growled, pushing feebly at my shoulders.

"No!" I could hear the hunger filled groans of the oncoming mass of dead bodies. I fired a few rounds from my hand gun at the closest bodies and dropped them to the ground.

"Please Daryl," I was choking back tears.

"It's okay, just go baby, just go," his voice was so even and calm that I couldn't hold it in any longer. I burst into tears, my body was convulsing as I struggled to drag air into my lungs.

"I won't go without ya," I sobbed, tugging at his shirt feebly again.

"Hey, listen to me," I felt Daryl's hand on mine forcing me to open my eyes and look at him.

"I'll always, always love ya baby girl, y'were the only one for me," he pulled me forwards and kissed me deeply, his cheeks stained with wet tears that I wasn't sure if they were mine or his.

"I love you, I love you Daryl, please don't leave, please," I shook my head, sobs still raking my body as I kissed his lips over and over.

"Time to go baby," he gave me a heart breaking, soul destroying smile as I felt a pair of strong arms around my waist as I clung to him with everything I had left.

Daryl gave a nod to someone behind me and the roaring explosion of a gun going off behind me made my ears ring. Daryl's body went completely limp, his eyes closed peacefully as a pool of blood began to form around his head,

"No!" I screamed, my voice getting caught in the back of my voice and coming out in a gurgling noise. I shook his shoulders frantically.

"Wake up baby, please, please, we have to go, please Daryl wake up," I whispered as I shook his body over and over again. His body moved with my every push, though he never opened his eyes. I clung to him as hard as I could manage, my chest getting tighter as the person behind me tugged harder at my waist to make me move. The sounds of the walkers gnashing jaws and loud groans finally broke through into my ears as I frantically kept trying to wake Daryl up, my breathing getting quicker as the noise grew louder and louder inside of my head.

"Daryl no! No please God no! Daryl!" I screamed as I finally lost all strength, my fingers losing their grip on his shirt as I was hauled backwards from him, the distance between us getting further and further away until finally we were far enough away from the hoard of ravenous walkers as he was covered by rotting, broken bodies that I'm sure devoured him whole.

I realised that the shot had been fired by the gun in my hand by whoever it was that was pulling me back into the safety of the prison walls.

"Please, no, please," I sobbed as the gate came crashing down in front of me and I was finally allowed to collapse into a heap on the ground. My body was shuddering with every hysterical sob that I endured as I clung to the metal of the gate and squeezed my eyes shut, praying over and over again that it was all just a bad dream. My chest was aching, it felt like someone was crushing my ribs and threatening to burst my lungs as I lay there trying desperately to draw in another breath of air. I was only vaguely aware of the hysterical cries that were escaping my mouth until suddenly I couldn't make any more noise, my throat constricting feeling like it was as dry as a bone and all I could manage at that point, was to cry.

"C'mon sweetheart, y'need to get up," I could hear Dale's voice somewhere in the distance behind me though it felt like my head was swimming and my whole body was submerged in water.

"Get off me!" I screamed yanking my arm sideways as I felt a hand try and pull me up and away from where I sat.

"Ya need to come inside,"

"Go away! Leave me alone!" my voice broke as I crumpled again my head falling into my hands as I cried.

"Just leave me alone, please, please god just leave me alone," I sobbed over and over again.

When I finally came around to a coherent train of thought, it was pitch black and I was lying in a foreign bed staring at a concrete ceiling. My body ached all over, my head was pounding like a drum, my brain hammering against my skull reminding me that I was alone. I stared at the ceiling for a long time, my mouth so dry that I could barely breath properly. My lips were cracked and stinging from the lack of water in my system. I swear, in the depths of that blackened room, I endured the darkest night of my entire life, the only thing that saw me through was the memory of Daryl's smiling face, the tenderness of his lips as he kissed me and his final words.

_I'll always, always love ya baby girl, y'were the only one for me._

_S_**even years later.**

"Daryl! Sweetheart, where mommy can see ya baby!" I called as my son ran along the fence line chasing his companion Sophie.

"Okay mom!" he called back easily as he tagged the young girl on the arm and then turned to run away in the opposite direction.

"They grow up so fast huh? Sophie is just the spitting image of you," I smiled at Lori as I hung up a pair of Daryl's shorts that we're a hand me down from Carl.

"She's got the temperament of her father though," Lori said with a smile letting her arms fall to her sides as she watched the two of them running around.

"Is that such a bad thing?" Rick put his arms around Lori's waist and kissed her neck with a soft laugh.

"Roar!" I stopped what I was doing at looked up to see Merle grab Daryl around the waist and fling the small boy over his shoulder easily.

"Uncle Merle!" Daryl said with a high pitched squeal as he kicked lightly against his uncles chest.

"Now it's y'turn!" Merle laughed as he chased Sophie who screamed and ran away across the yard.

"He's so good with them isn't he?" Carol said coming up and standing next to me.

"He must get it from all y've taught him," I laughed giving her a nudge.

"Oh please," she said blushing, "we've only been together a few months!"

"That's all it takes with Merle," I said with a laugh.

"Dinner's up guys!" Maggie called from the large open double doors that lead into the prison block.

"Dinner!" I heard the two children exclaim.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Sophie yelled as Merle placed Daryl back on his feet and he took off after his friend.

"Oh good, I've been thinking about food all day!" Dale said walking over from the other side of the yard where he had been tending to his vegetable crop most of the day.

"Too much hard work old man!" Rick said as he wrapped his arm around Lori's shoulders and headed inside with Dale close in toe next to them.

"Y'comin' lil sis?" Merle asked as he sauntered passed me casually.

"Be in, in a sec," I said with a smile.

"Don't be too long, y'know what Rick's like with food!" Carol said with a laugh as she fell into step with Merle and they headed inside together.

I looked out over the fenced off sanctuary that had become our home for so long. Things had changed a lot since the day we first found this place. Shane and Andrea headed off together to see if they could find something more substantial and some sign of civilization, that was around four years ago. No one really expected them to come come back, much to Dale's disgust. Dale evidentially threw himself into his vegetable crop to preoccupy his mind from all of the things going on in the world. I couldn't say I blamed him, the walkers were always there, banging on the gates, gurgling blood curdling noises of hunger and pain as they watched us hungrily from the outside world. Lori and Rick finally had their little bub, in honor of Sophia they asked Carol if they could call their girl Sophie. She was thrilled at the idea. Carl was happy to have a sibling and was happily showing her the ropes. Glenn and Maggie had a 'wedding' which consisted of Rick as the preacher and the rest of us as witnesses probably about two years back. They're expecting their first born any day now as well. Funnily enough, Merle and Carol found some sort of common ground in all of this. Apparently according to Carol Merle and always been of interest to her and a few months ago she finally found the courage to tell him. I don't think I've ever seen the two of them as happy as they have been lately.

Things changed dramatically for me too. A few weeks after the Daryl incident I found out I was pregnant with his child. I've never been so confused, lost or scared in my entire life than the day I found out. Bless them, Lori and Rick helped me through the worst of it, helped me along the path and almost seven years ago I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy little boy.

Merle took to him instantly, insisting that he looked just like Daryl had when he was born. He changed completely after his nephew was born. He started helping out around the prison, gathering food and even helping with the washing and looking after the kids where he could. He had a tear in his eye when I told him I was naming his nephew Daryl. God only knows as he's getting bigger he looks just like his Daddy did. I still look at the photos every night before I go to bed, still see Daryl's face in my dreams, feel his arms around me on the cold nights. There isn't a day that goes passed that I don't think about him. I dream about him teaching his son to hunt, see them running around in the yard playing chasey and tackling each other to the ground.

It makes my heart and my soul ache to think that he never got a chance to see how beautiful his son is. Merle tells me every day that he's sure he'd be proud of both of us and the way I'm raising him. I still miss him though. I still wake some nights drenched in tears and my body aching from the memories of that day. Daryl doesn't understand what happened to his Dad, and we figure its something we'll tell him when he's a little older.

"Mom! C'mon, dinner is ready!" I turned to smile at my little man as he stood at the doorway holding a plate of food and giving me the same sarcastic, impatient look his father used to give me.

"Okay, okay, I'm comin'!" I called as I walked over to him and ran my fingers through his hair.

"Love ya always my baby boy," I whispered, kissing his head lightly.

"Love ya too mom," he replied grabbing his fathers crossbow from by the door as he walked inside. I pulled the door shut behind me and locked the massive chain and padlock we had attached to it, pausing only for a moment to remember the last thing Daryl said to me. Sometimes in the darkest, loneliest depths of the night, I'm sure I can feel his warm arms around my body and the sound of his steady heart beat in my ear. When it's really quiet, in the absolute dead silence of the night and the wee hours of the morning, I'm certain I can still hear is voice,

_I'll always, always love ya baby girl, y'were the only one for me._


End file.
